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AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



OF 



JOHN J. CORNELL 



V 



CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS 

RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES AND 

TRAVELS IN THE MINISTRY 




1906 
£0e £orb Q^afftmore (preae 

THE FRIEDENWALD COMPANY 
BALTIMORE, MD., tJ. S. A. 



8> Transfer 

D. C. Public Library 

JAN 2 8 1941 






? 




5 






121289 

WITHDRAWN 




THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY BELOVED WIVES, 

JUDITH H. and ELIZA H. CORNELL, 

TO WHOSE WISE COUNSEL, KIND CARE AND LOVING WATCHFULNESS 

I AM SO LARGELY INDEBTED IN ENABLING ME TO PERFORM 

THE SERVICES REQUIRED OF ME BY MY HEAVENLY FATHER. 



d 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 
Parentage and Early Life 9 

CHAPTER II. 
Young Manhood and Religious Experience of That Age 18 

CHAPTER III. 
Marriage and Further Religious Experience 25 

CHAPTER IV, 
Entering the Ministry and Subsequent Experience 38 

CHAPTER V. 

Early Experience in the Ministry and Openings in Connection 
Therewith, Continued 51 

CHAPTER VI. 
Letters from 1858 to 1861 64 

CHAPTER VII. 
Travels in the Ministry and Incidents Connected Therewith 127 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Travels in the Ministry and Incidents Connected Therewith, Con- 
tinued 148 

CHAPTER IX. 

Some Incidents Connected With My Ministry, But Not in Chrono- 
logical Order 187 

CHAPTER X. 
My Temperance Work 201 



6 Contents 

CHAPTER XI. 
Travels in the Ministry, Continued 210 

CHAPTER XII. 
Travels in the Ministry and Visiting Families in 1901 221 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Travels in the Ministry and Visiting Families in 1902 291 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Work of 1903 347 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Work of 1904 374 

CHAPTER XVI. 
The Work of 1905 384 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Essay — Conscience versus the Inner Light. Sermon Delivered 

Tenth Month, 29, 1905 401 

Other Sermons 414 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN J. CORNELL 



INTRODUCTION. 

I have been frequently solicited for several years past to pen 
an account of my religious experiences, and in answer to enquiries 
made, I have replied that I had not kept a journal of my life, 
though there were many events of a peculiar character which had 
occurred in the course of my ministry that might not only be 
instructive but interesting to those on whom the burden of society 
must in after days rest. 

I have always felt a shrinking from attempting such a work, 
from the feeling that it might be deemed egotistical on my part, 
but now that I have passed my seventieth year, as I become con- 
"scious if an autobiography is ever written it must be soon, I find 
my mind drawn to attempt it as a matter of duty, and so I shall 
send it forth as a faithful transcript of my life, my many 
experiences while in the service of the ministry and the many 
and peculiar baptisms I experienced in the preparation for that 
work, trusting that those into whose hands it may come may find 
the evidence of the Heavenly Father's care and direction in 
qualifying me for the service in which I have so long been 
engaged — and that some may find in the evidences given of His 
immediate care and guidance, an incentive to, in their day, as 
faithfully serve Him as the writer has endeavored to do, and 
that they may find as adequate a reward as has been granted 
him for his faithfulness in obedience to the requirements of the 
Heavenly Father. 

Inasmuch as since writing the above several years have 
passed, into which has been crowded much active service, I have 



8 Introduction 

felt to add to what was then written, and while at the time of 
writing it I had expected to leave it to be published after my 
earthly career had closed, I have been, now since I have entered 
upon my eightieth year, deeply impressed that I had better 
publish it during my lifetime, so that the responsibility for what 
it contains should fall upon myself. And I want it to be dis- 
tinctly understood by all my readers that no one but myself shall 
be held responsible for whatever of doctrinal views may be found 
within its pages. They are the result of the revelations of truth 
that have been made to me and corroborated by my own personal 
experience. 

JOHN J. CORNELL. 



CHAPTER I. 
Parentage and Early Life. 

My parents were William and Phebe F. Cornell. My father 
was the son of Joshua and Rebecca Cornell, and was born in 
the town of Amawalk, in the County of Westchester and State 
of New York, and my mother was the daughter of Benjamin 
and Freelove Carpenter and was born in the town of Pleasant 
Valley, in the County of Dutchess and State of New York. They 
were birthright members of the Society of Friends and were 
married in the order of that Society in Crum Elbow Meeting 
House on the 28th of Fourth month, 1825, and settled in Pough- 
keepsie, in Dutchess County. My father at that time was 
employed on a sloop engaged in what would now be termed a 
floating commission business. They were in limited circum- 
stances and therefore commenced life in a small way. 

I was born in that (now) city on the 20th of Ninth month, 
1826. 

They continued to reside in Poughkeepsie until the spring of 
1834, when, in consequence of the business in which my father 
was engaged, requiring him to stay most of the time in New 
York City, they moved to that city and remained there for three 
years. During this time I was sent to the Friends' Monthly 
Meeting School, then held in a school house on Elizabeth Street, 
near Hester, and in the yard adjoining the Hester Street Meet- 
ing House. I mention this to show that my parents had a care 
to place me in early life, while obtaining my education, under 
such influences as would best promote a good moral and religious 
training. I do not remember that we were then required to 
attend the mid-week meeting, but the meeting day coming on 



io Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Fifth day, that afternoon was given us as a half -holiday, and we 
could attend meeting or not, the school being kept on Seventh day 
all day, instead of reserving that day for the holiday, as is now 
the universal custom. 

In the spring of 1837 my father removed to Poughkeepsie 
again, for what cause I never exactly knew, but rather suspect 
it was for economical reasons. There being no Friends school 
in that place, I was sent one term to the Academy and the re- 
mainder of the year to a select school kept by Solomon Jenny. At 
that school it was a rule that all the scholars should be taught to 
sing, and I, accordingly, entered the class, but all I remember of it 
is that I was given the bass part ; but my father, learning such was 
the custom, in accordance with the feelings of Friends of that 
day in regard to music, forbade my attempting to learn any more 
and made some arrangements with the teacher to excuse me. 
Whether I would ever have made any proficiency in that art 
must remain an unsolved problem, for while I am exceedingly 
fond of good music and especially of singing, I have never been 
able to carry a tune through, I suppose because my education 
in that particular, owing to such prejudices, was neglected. 
During this summer I met with three narrow escapes from 
death, which undoubtedly had a great deal to do with a serious 
thoughtfulness that was present with me during all my younger 
years, even while engaged in mirthful amusements and sports. 

The first occurred while rolling a hoop, in the act of which, 
as I went to pass a team before a loaded wagon, the hoop got 
beyond my control and rolled against one of the horses : being 
a young one, as I afterwards learned, it frightened him and he 
at once kicked, and I was just near enough to receive the blow 
in my face, but not to get its full force. The driver of the team 
said I whirled around like a top and fell inward towards the 
wagon, but he was able to stop his team before the wheel passed 
over my neck. I was taken up unconscious and remained so for 
some five hours. 

The next time I was in bathing and a young man induced me 
to dive of! a rock into what he assured me was shallow water, 



Parentage and Early Life ii 

but which proved to be about ten feet deep, and as I could not 
;>wim I came near drowning - both myself and the young man 
who rescued me. And a little later in the summer, as boylike, I 
was enjoying myself in sailing on a log in a creek near its entrance 
into the Hudson River, a man came down on the logs near where 
I was thus playing after a log for the saw mill near, and losing 
his balance, in order to regain it put out the pike pole in hand 
and struck the log upon which I was, overturning it and throwing 
me into the water several feet deep, and in coming to the surface 
the first time I came up under the logs upon which he was stand- 
ing and out of his sight. When I came to the surface the second 
time he saw and rescued me. After this I kept out of deep water 
until I had learned to swim. 

During the winter an episode occurred which made a deep 
impression on me and fastened the conviction firmly that corporal 
punishment in the school room was a barbarous practice and 
should seldom if ever be resorted to. 

It was the practice of the teacher to go to his home for his 
dinner, and if any of us were unfortunate enough to have missed 
our lessons he would shut us in the recitation room and lock 
the door and detain us there without our dinner until his return, 
he would then hear us, and if we had by that time succeeded 
in learning it, would be released. On this occasion the largest 
boy in school, a man in stature, had missed his Latin lesson, and 
a number of the smaller boys had missed in their geography. 
When the teacher left he gave me the key to the room and told 
me when I had finished my dinner to go into the room and hear 
the boys in their geography and dismiss those who had learned 
their lesson. As I opened the door for this purpose this young 
man rushed out. I being only eleven years old, was powerless 
to stop him. When the teacher returned and I reported the 
state of things, I saw he turned very pale, but said nothing. 
When school called he asked the young man to come to his desk, 
and after a few words he told him he should whip him for it. 
The teacher was a slight man and the young man taller and 



12 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

much heavier. He took a rawhide about four feet long and 
struck the young man over the shoulders with it, and then com- 
menced one of the fiercest battles I have ever seen, but in the 
end the teacher conquered and succeeded in giving the young 
man a severe whipping, after which he left the school. It seemed 
to me then and has ever since that a quiet, calm talk with that 
boy alone would have resulted in his acknowledgment and reten- 
tion in the school without the teacher losing his control. 

In the spring my parents again removed to New York City and 
the following summer I was sent for three months to a boarding 
school at Nine Partners, Dutchess County, New York, under 
the care of the Orthodox Friends, and here I might say began 
my religious training, as far as the study of the Bible is con- 
cerned. My parents had been careful to take me to meeting on 
First days as far back as I could remember, and I was also very 
fond of listening to the preaching of George F. White, then in 
the prime of life and of his popularity, frequently going alone to 
Rose Street on First-day morning to hear him, our own meet- 
ing, while in New York, being held in Downing Street, and was 
known as the Greenwich meeting. 

At this boarding school we had a reading from the Bible every 
morning at the breakfast table and every evening before going 
to bed, and First day morning before meeting an hour was de- 
voted to its study, and First-day afternoons the boys all went 
up into the girls' school room for an opportunity, as it was 
called, in which there was a time of silent waiting and then the 
reading of several chapters of the Bible. Had it not been that 
this was the only time except when at our meals, we had to see 
the girls, this would, to many of us, have been exceedingly irk- 
some; but as it was, the opportunity was generally looked for- 
ward to with interest, even if but little religious instruction was 
remembered. 

The winter following I was at home and attended the monthly 
meeting school — before mentioned. During the summer of 1839 
I was again at Nine Partners Boarding School, and I might 



Parentage and Early Life 13 

date the commencement of my religious life from that summer. 
I do not remember that any particular circumstance had peculiarly 
influenced me to take a religious turn, but during my attendance 
at school an incident occurred which has had a great influence on 
my manner of thought in regard to prayer all my life since. I 
had among my schoolmates a young man who took great delight 
in teasing the younger boys, and particularly so when he dis- 
covered any of us were sensitive in relation to it. And as I was 
one of these he made my life there out of school hours almost 
intolerable. One day while suffering from some of his efforts 
I felt impressed to go up in the upper part of the grounds set 
apart for us to play in and roam over, in which was an orchard, 
and pray — and in obedience to the impression, near nightfall, 
when I would not be observed, I went, and kneeling down in a 
corner of the fence, I asked in mental thought what shall I pray 
for, and the answer came, pray for the boy who is annoying 
thee that he may see the impropriety of his course, and then aloud 
with an earnest and confiding spirit I most reverently, in my 
childish manner, asked for him a change of heart. I had no 
liberty, and did not dare ask for my own deliverance or even for 
strength to bear, but prayed solely for my persecutor. I arose from 
my knees feeling strengthened and more light-hearted than I 
had done for weeks, and when I met the young man the next 
day he was very kind to me and ceased from that time to annoy 
me, and became one of my strongest and dearest friends. And 
this was the first lesson I remember to have been impressed on 
my mind of the power of the immediate teaching of the Divine 
Spirit, and that obedience to it produced peace and joy. I have 
in my possession two letters which I wrote to my mother during 
that summer, which I found among the papers after her decease 
— she having preserved them and to which she sometimes alluded 
when in after years I seemed to forget for a time the deep religious 
impressions to which I referred in my correspondence. The first 
of these is dated Sixth month, Eighth, 1839, from which I make 
the following extract, viz. : 



14 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

" How good is He who reigns in Heaven. While we are 
in health we ought to attend to our religious duties and not 
wait until the trumpet of death is sounded in our ears, for then 
it will be too late to reform. Hence the necessity of being pre- 
pared for the next world. As it says in the Holy Scriptures, 
wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction 
and many there be that go in thereat ; but straight is the gate and 
narrow the way that leads to everlasting life, and but few enter 
therein. Last night our teacher explained this passage to us, 
and I will tell thee as near as I can remember how it was ex- 
plained. Wide is the gate and broad is the way, that is those 
who walk in that path are those who indulge themselves in all 
the carnal propensities of their nature and give an unbounded 
scope to their desires and passions, and many there be that go 
in thereat ; but straight is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth 
unto life.' That is the straight and narrow way the Christian 
must travel. He further explained what was meant by this pas- 
sage of scripture : ' When thou are about to turn to the right 
hand or to the left, thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying 
this is the way, walk thou in it.' That is, as long as we kept in 
the narrow way we should hear this voice, but as soon as we 
turned from it this blessed guide would forsake us." 

And the following is from another letter, dated Ninth month, 
Twenty-eighth, 1839: 

" My mind is deeply tried at different times and I have been 
made to see the goodness of Him who made us, and I have 
prayed to Him to preserve me in the path of righteousness, that 
when my time shall come I may go through the valley of the 
shadow of death and not fear, for I know the Lord will help me 
and not suffer me to be deceived by the enemy of souls if I will 
put my trust in Him and take up my cross daily. I have passed 
many happy hours at the school and since I have been here I 
have experienced much for the salvation of my soul, and hope 
I shall experience much more. I can say I have tried to obey 
the teacher in all things, though I have given him some trouble. 



Parentage and Early Life 15 

I hope he will forgive me for it. I have felt condemned for 
doing what I ought not to have done. 

" I thank my God that He has blessed me with good parents 
who have watched over me and tried to bring me up in the 
way in which I should go. Dear mother, I now begin to see what 
a blessing it is to have good parents, and it makes me feel so 
very bad when I think of the trouble I have given thee that I 
almost shed tears." * * * * 

The following year, as my parents made an extended trip to 
Canada to visit my father's friends in the hope of bettering the 
health of my mother, who, while I did not know it then, was 
suffering from a bronchial attack which made her so hoarse 
that she was unable to speak above a whisper for many weeks, 
I was sent to my grandfather's to spend the summer, and but 
little to note occurred that year ; but on the first day of the year 
1 84 1 another incident worthy of record happened, because it 
has had much to do with my after life and will account to some 
for my active interest in the temperance movement of my day : 
It was the custom in the City of New York on New Year's day 
for the ladies to keep open house and for their. gentlemen friends 
to call upon them and be treated to cake, and in most cases to 
wine, and this custom even extended to the children. So on 
New Year's day of 1841 I went with some of my companions and 
made eight calls in the afternoon, at all but one of which we 
took wine, the other serving coffee instead. When evening came 
we had taken so much wine that I was partly intoxicated, indeed 
so much so that I could not walk without some staggering. When 
I went into the house and into the sitting room I found my 
mother engaged in sewing. As I entered she looked up, and as 
she saw my condition a look of intense anguish passed over her 
countenance, but she did not say anything. I dearly loved my 
mother, and as I caught that look it sobered me in a moment 
and I realized then what an error I had been guilty of. Without 
saying anything I went upstairs and to bed, though it was early 
in the evening, and then commenced the first real struggle of 



1 6 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

my life. I had been in the habit of going to a grocery store kept 
by a friend, who had a young man in his employ a little older 
than myself, and several other boys would meet there and we 
were occasionally treated to a glass of egg nog — until I had 
learned to love the taste of it. In my struggle that night I saw 
I must give up all intoxicants and become a temperance boy. 
I did not get any sleep until the small hours of the night had 
come, nor until I had made a solemn vow with my Heavenly 
Father that I would not again touch liquor in any form as a 
beverage, and now, while writing this after I have passed my 
seventieth year, I can say that vow has never been broken. 

The following summer I was again placed in Nine Partners 
Boarding School for six months. On arriving there I found a 
change of teachers had been made and more rigid rules in relation 
to plainness of dress instituted, and this for a little while brought 
me into a little conflict with the superintendent. 

When the boys came to dress to go to meeting on First-day I 
found that a number of them had their double-breasted coats 
cut over and changed to the straight or standing collar, and as 
it was the custom to stitch the collars of the double-breasted coats 
so as to make them keep their place, this cutting over gave them 
an unpleasant appearance and spoiled them for wearing when 
at home. My mother had made me a nice new and fine broad- 
cloth roundabout, of which I was, boy-like, very proud. My 
schoolmates warned me when I wore it to meeting that day that 
my coat would be " bobbed," as they expressed it, the next day, 
but I told them I thought not. But on Second-day morning, 
when school called, Aunt Mary Grifhn, the wife of the superin- 
tendent, met me at the foot of the stairs and demanded the key 
to my trunk. I asked her what for. She replied : " No matter, 
I want the key to thy trunk." I of course knew what it was 
wanted for, and then told her if she wanted it to cut the collar 
off my coat she could not have it, for I would not consent to have 
it mutilated, but if I must wear a plain coat I would write home 
and have one made, and that if she could not wait for that I 



Parentage and Early Life 17 

would take my trunk and go home the next morning. After 
a little further parleying I had my way, sent and had the coats 
made and wore them while there, but no amount of persuasion 
could get them on me after I went home. I mention this inci- 
dent just to show what seems to me to be a wrong in forcing 
children to do at school that which they have not been required 
to do at home, without giving some sufficient reason and appeal- 
ing to their sense of right, as it largely interferes with their 
acceptance of what may be required as a duty in after years. 
As I found, it left so deep a prejudice in my mind against the 
wearing of the plain garb, once thought so important among 
Friends, that it was the hardest obstacle I had to surmount when 
the requirement came that rendered it necessary for me to 
adopt it as the proper style of dress. 

In the early part of the year 1842 my father sold out his 
interest in the business in which he had been engaged for eighteen 
years and removed with his family from- New York City to the 
town of Mendon, Monroe County, in the western part of the 
State of New York. He was induced to take this step partly 
because of his distrust of the habits of one of his partners, partly 
in order that he could be more with his family and partly on 
account of my sister and myself, that we might, on entering 
society, form our associations among the Friends of a farming 
community, and there is but little doubt that this change altered 
my prospects in life and was the means largely of my entering 
upon the service for the Master in which I have so long been 
engaged. 



CHAPTER II. 

Young Manhood and Religious Experience of That Age. 

While the change from city life to that of the farm was a 
great one, yet I was able to readily adapt myself to it. The 
meeting at Mendon was then large for a country meeting and 
the circle of young people very agreeable, and I was soon 
engaged with them in the amusements common in that day to 
assist in the enjoyment of our social mingling. Being possessed 
of an ardent, impulsive and mirthful nature, I entered into these 
amusements with a keen zest. My mother, in particular, would 
frequently remind me that I was not following the religious life 
upon which I thought I had entered before coming to the country, 
and my father would chide in a more stern manner for some 
of what he called our foolishness. And when I returned from 
the gatherings in which I had often taken a prominent part I 
felt the warning impressions of the Divine Spirit disturbing my 
peace and quiet. But while I was unyielding I did not forget 
what I had known, but I would not acknowledge to myself that 
my course was incorrect, for the allurements of young society 
were too strong. Although I could not help but see that my 
mother was slowly yielding to that flattering but ever destroying 
disease consumption, and even while on the sick bed, as she 
would remind me of what I had known and tell me what she 
saw the Lord was designing me for, still I refused to attend to 
her counsel ; but when the end came, as it did in the Fifth month, 
1844, as I stood by her dying bed, looked upon her encoffined 
form and saw the remains lowered into the open grave, all the 
events of my life seem to rise in rapid succession before me. 
Every occasion when I had brought sorrow to that loving mother's 




J.J. CORNELL 

(AT 21 YEARS OF AGE) 



■ 



Young Manhood and Religious Experience 19 

heart, seemed to rise as accusing angels, and then, when too 
late, I fully realized what I had lost in the death of that mother, 
my grief was too deep for tears, and for days I appeared cold 
and indifferent to all around me, while inwardly I seemed to be 
consumed with an agony I have no words to describe. When 
the fount of tears was opened a softened feeling came into my 
heart and then I covenanted with my Heavenly Father if He 
would forgive me I would dedicate the remainder of my life to 
any service He might call me into. And, except for a brief 
period, of which I shall speak farther on, that vow has not been 
broken. 

I had been a steady attendant at meetings and loved to go — 
even while I was so unwilling to yield to what I saw was right. 
The winter after the death of my mother I was with a company 
of young people and was importuned to lead in an amusement 
of which I had been very fond, and after many excuses yielded, 
but before going far one sister refused to take the part assigned 
her, and as she had drawn me into it by her importunities it 
angered me and I refused to go any further and, under the 
pretence of being warm, which I really was, but for the pur- 
pose of reflection I took my chair into an adjoining room, where 
I could see and not be seen. The young people went on with 
the play which I had interrupted, but I was in deep baptism of 
spirit and in close communion with the Divine One. I felt 
condemned for the exhibition of passion, though transient, I had 
made, but the dear Father kindly led me to see the folly of 
spending our time in such frivolity. He showed me that He 
had endowed us not only with immortal souls to save, but had 
given us intellectual faculties which might be used by us to 
entertain and at the same time instruct each other. The manner in 
which the young were accustomed to pass their time appeared 
so foolish and unworthy of their high endowments, that I could 
never be persuaded to engage in them again. I still went with 
them to their social entertainments, but could always find some 
one with whom to enter into a conversation in which we would 



20 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

become interested and from which I could derive some instruc- 
tion, and when I returned from these companies I did not find in 
the time of quiet reflection anything to regret as I had done before. 

I had also contracted a habit of entering into controversy 
with those either of my own age or even older upon almost any 
subject that might arise, frequently allowing myself to take a 
side contrary to my real feelings if that were necessary for an 
argument. About the time above referred to I was in a com- 
pany of but a few friends and the subject of the anti-slavery 
movement was discussed, during which I obtained so decided 
an advantage over the one with whom I was arguing that in 
order to extricate himself from the position in which I had placed 
him by the arguments I had presented, he turned upon me and 
commenced to ridicule my profession of religion and made use 
of some very provoking and unpleasant language. While I was 
able to conceal my feelings it hurt me and left an unpleasant 
impression of my friend upon me. When I returned home that 
evening I was led into serious thought in relation to the feeling 
engendered by this disputation, and in this reflection I found 
I could not hold myself blameless, and then it seemed as though 
every circumstance connected with my argumentative disposition 
came vividly before my memory and I was given to see that my 
course in this regard had not resulted in any good in the past, 
and if I continued therein in the future it would dwarf my 
spiritual growth, and I covenanted with my Heavenly Father 
that if He would support me I would refrain from the indul- 
gence in any such controversies, and I am thankful now, at this 
period of my life, that I can look back arid see how, as I was care- 
ful to keep this covenant, I was preserved from much that would 
have hindered my usefulness and disturbed my peace. 

When my parents removed to the farm our family consisted 
with them of myself and a sister about two years younger. She 
was a woman of a superior mind and whose judgment was much 
in advance of her age. In the choice of companionship from 
among her associates she chose one some years older than her- 



Young Manhood and Religious Experience 21 

self, but a woman capable of appreciating the devoted friendship 
of a younger sister, and between them there grew a bond of 
union never broken until severed by the death of my sister. I 
had made this sister a confidant of my mental and spiritual 
struggle, for between us, particularly after the death of our 
mother, the attachment was unusually strong and I always found 
her a safe adviser. She had inherited our mother's calm, deep 
spiritual nature, was much less impulsive than myself, gifted 
with rare powers of conversation, and her deep spiritual insight 
and capability of expressing her judgment in a kind, tender 
spirit and in elegant language, enabled her to not only win her 
way to the hearts of her chosen associates, but was a great help 
to me in calming and curbing the impulsive, passionate nature 
which I had inherited from my father. The association thus 
formed by her for her chosen confidante, Judith H. Russell, 
threw me much into the society of the latter, and I, or rather we, 
had a more than usual opportunity to study each other's ways 
and nature until finally our feeling of friendship ripened into 
a deeper affection, and in the Fifth month, 1845, we entered 
into an engagement to be married at some future season, when 
we might deem that I was old enough to assume such a respon- 
sibility. I was at that time well into my nineteenth year and 
she in her twenty-third. Ordinarily this would seem, and I 
acknowledge is, too young to enter upon such an engagement; 
but I had matured younger than many, and the event proved the 
wisdom of the movement in a long period of a happy, and I 
trust, useful life. It seemed to us that the blessing of our Heavenly 
Father rested on our engagement from the first, for very soon 
after I had to pass through some of the deepest spiritual trials 
of my life, and had it not been for her wise counsel and en- 
couragement I can scarcely think what might have been the result. 
The first came in the form of a requisition to put on a plain 
coat. I had purchased the materials for it, and after getting 
them home my mother's counsel as expressed relating to the 



22 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

plain dress came vividly before me and lived with me for 
several days, and as the time approached, I remember being at 
work ploughing out potatoes. I did my work mechanically, but 
I never knew what amount of work I accomplished, so com- 
pletely was I absorbed in the problem. At length I decided for 
myself that it would be right, and yet I felt I ought to consult 
one with whom I expected to be bound in the near tie of mar- 
riage before fully deciding. When I saw her a few days after 
and unburdened my feelings, which I did fully, though not 
without some fear as to the result, she looked up sweetly and 
composedly and said, " My dear one, do as thy Heavenly Father 
bids thee. It will be all right." I went home with a lightened 
and happy heart, took the cloth to the tailor and had my first 
plain coat made. All hesitancy, all fear, all of the cross was 
removed. 

In the Sixth month of that year, as was usual, I went with 
my father and sister to our monthly meeting, about ten miles 
from my home. This period was a time of much excitement 
among the Friends, growing out of the anti-slavery movement, 
and quite a number of our members were exceedingly active in 
that work. A matter concerning what some of the members 
had done in that direction came before the meeting and led to 
a heated acrimonious discussion. Those to whom I had looked 
for counsel, the ministers and elders of the meeting, who had 
so often in my hearing said that the immediate revelation of the 
Spirit was an unerring guide and would preserve from the com- 
mission of all forms of sin, were now engaged in this dispute, 
becoming angry with each other and manifesting that anger in 
harshness of tone and language. It completely crushed my 
sensitive spirit, and when meeting closed I made a resolve that 
I would never attend a meeting of Friends again. I met my 
loved one in the carriage with the tears rolling down my cheeks 
and told her I was completely disheartened, but she bade me 
hope — but I could not. I went home, brooded over what I had 
seen and heard, dwelt upon the missteps of those to whom I had 



Young Manhood and Religious Experience 23 

looked for an example, and soon reasoned away all idea of divine 
revelation, and in this frame of mind was soon brought to ques- 
tion the existence of a God. I struggled with this conviction, 
striving to convince myself of its truth by dwelling on these 
circumstances, but prudently keeping my own counsels. I stayed 
away from the meeting and, although questioned by several 
for the reason why, I was for some reason, I did not then 
understand, withheld from stating it. This condition continued 
until the latter part of the Eighth month, when, as I was 
plowing one day in one of the fields some distance from the 
house, I was suddenly arrested by what seemed to me a voice 
speaking to my outer ear. I was startled, stopped my team and 
looked to see if any one was near me and who had spoken, but 
I found I was alone with my God. The language I then heard 
was, " Though all men else forsake my law, it will not excuse 
thee." I sat down on the plow beam filled with an ecstatic 
joy I cannot describe in human language. All doubts of the ex- 
istence of a Divine Being had vanished, all doubts of immediate 
revelation were at once removed. A spiritual light was shining 
round me, above the light of the sun at noonday. A heavy 
load had been lifted from my spirit. The darkness in which I 
had been walking was removed. How long I sat in that ecstatic 
condition I could not tell. I was aroused to consciousness with 
another revelation in these words, " I shall call thee into the work 
of the ministry." So clear had been the revelation, so confirming 
the evidence that not a doubt has ever crossed the mind since, 
either of the existence of God, His immediate revelation of Him- 
self, and His laws to man, as of that which was to be and has 
been my life work. I now returned to my meeting again with a 
lightened heart, and those hours spent in devotional worship 
were so completely occupied with the communion with the 
Father's spirit as to frequently make me unconscious of what 
was said by those who were ministering to us. Opening after 
opening came and the truth I would have to declare clearly shown 
me, accompanied with the feeling the time is not yet. My friends 
are not prepared to hear them. 



24 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

About this time I began to take an active part in the business 
meetings and spoke to the business for the first time at the 
quarterly meeting in the First month, 1846. A subject was 
before the meeting of considerable interest and upon which there 
was some division of sentiment, and when a proposition was 
made that resulted in its settlement I felt it a duty to give expres- 
sion of my unity, which I did simply, which was followed by a 
sweet peace of mind. I had now fully made an open profession 
of my faith and accepted the responsibilities of a concerned mem- 
ber of our religious society, but being so young in years it caused 
a good deal of comment, some favorable and some unfavorable. 
By some it was intimated that I had taken this course to secure 
the favor of my intended father-in-law, and by others that it 
was only ephemeral, arising out of my own zeal ; but these things 
did not disturb me. I knew they did not understand my nature 
nor know of the baptisms I had undergone, but that time would 
prove my sincerity and the faith in which I trusted. 



CHAPTER III. 
Marriage and Further Religious Experience. 

Circumstances seeming to favor it, my intended and I con- 
cluded we might consummate our marriage in the fall of 1846. 
So with the full concurrence and approbation of our parents, 
Judith H. Russell and I were, with the consent of Rochester 
Monthly Meeting, married on the 29th of the Ninth month of 
that year, and entered upon what proved to be a harmonious and 
loving union until her death, of which I shall have occasion to 
speak in its due order of time. 

I now entered into a contract with my father to work the 
farm on which we lived, and thus commenced my secular life, 
and until my father's death was the active head of the work. 
While could I have had my choice in life and followed my 
inclination to have obtained a collegiate education, which my 
father not only disapproved by word but refused to allow me to 
leave home in my minority for such a purpose, he having, I 
doubt not, sincerely imbibed the idea that such an education 
would have unfitted me for work, and it doubtless would for 
the severe manual labor which fell to my lot as the head of the 
farm, with so ambitious a nature as was mine. It may have been 
in best wisdom, for in farm life there are more opportunities 
for quiet reflection and for self-culture than in the busy round 
of professional or mercantile life. At any rate, I was not a 
mechanical worker, but the mind was busily occupied with reli- 
gious contemplation, while I tried by a varied class of reading 
to keep abreast of the best thought I could reach — and in this 
school I hope I was not a dull scholar. I know it has enabled 
me in my later life in the exercise of the ministry to draw illns- 



26 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

trations from my experience by which I could more forcibly 
present my subject and make it clearer to those who heard me. 
It was a school, too, in which I found ample opportunities for 
the cultivation of a more calm and quiet government of a nat- 
urally impulsive and passionate nature, in all of which I was 
much helped by the counsel and quiet ways of my dear com- 
panion. In the year 1847, an d about the time I reached my 
majority, I was led into another of those deep spiritual baptisms 
it seemed in the Divine economy necessary to fit me for the work 
that was to be intrusted to me. From the time that I was first 
sent to Nine Partners Boarding School I had been a close 
student and reader of the Bible. In that school in First-day 
morning our time was devoted to its study, and while there I had 
committed the greater part of the New Testament to memory, 
and it was one of our reading books which was used daily in 
the class and I had continued the practice of frequent and almost 
daily reading of it (though we had no set hours for it either 
in my father's family or in my own, on our retirement to our 
rooms), and I had not been educated to believe this was a necessity 
to a true Christian and Godly life. 

But during the year referred to it suddenly became a sealed 
book to me. Whenever I opened it a sort of blurr would 
seem to obscure my vision. Then the letters would assume the 
German or the Hebrew form and as I had no knowledge of either 
language I was unable to read a word, and then all I had com- 
mitted to memory was taken from me. I could not recall the 
most familiar texts, but I could read any other book as before 
and could remember what I read, for I had been blessed with 
a very retentive memory. I could not understand this condition 
and became not a little worried over it, as it continued year after 
year until a period of twelve years had elapsed before I was 
able to read a word of the Scriptures. I was peaceful in mind, 
no feeling of condemnation because of it disturbed me. Not a 
doubt of my Heavenly Father's existence or of his immediate 
communion with me crossed my mind, nor not a doubt of their 



Marriage and Further Religious Experience 27 

authenticity disturbed my meditations. The spiritual openings 
in my meditative moments, either in meeting or out of it, were 
just as clear and grew deeper and deeper, as much that had been 
mysterious was satisfactorily to my mind made plain and a fuller 
perception of the fact that I was under the preparing hand for 
service in the ministry was more deeply impressed upon me, but 
I could not see why I should not be able to read my Bible. I 
then sought for human aid. I wrote to the different ministers 
of my acquaintance, inquiring if any of them had had a similar 
experience, and if not, could they tell me why it was mine. But 
none of them could give any satisfactory explanation save that 
clear-sighted mother in our Israel Elizabeth Newport, who wrote 
me to be patient. " I see," said she, " if thou were permitted to 
read the Scriptures as the rest of us are it would interfere with 
the work the Master has for thee to do. The time will come 
when thou can read them and they will be opened to thee in their 
deep spiritual meaning, and thou will draw from them pure prac- 
tical spiritual lessons to the edification of those to whom thou may 
be called to speak." This letter was received shortly after I had 
commenced my ministry. 

During this period we had a number of family visits from travel- 
ing friends, nearly all of whom had a clear sight that I was 
under the preparing hand for the ministry, but none were aware of 
this peculiar experience, nor did I feel at liberty to refer to it to 
any of the members of my own meeting, and none except those to 
whom I had written and my dear companion knew of this peculiar 
baptism. 

I was not idle however in taking my part in the affairs of 
society. In the spring of 1846 I was appointed clerk to the 
Preparative Meeting, which station I held for many years, and 
during the time above referred to was made clerk of the Monthly 
Meeting under a condition of things in the meeting of a trying 
nature, and while filling that position had much to encounter for 
one so young ; yet I believe I was enabled to give satisfaction to 
my friends and was made the instrument to settle a difficulty 
which had kept the meeting deeply agitated for seven years. 



28 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

When I first entered into the active concerns of the society it 
was clearly shown me that if I was to be of use to it in its meetings 
I must keep out of all controversy, must never press my opinion 
and judgment upon the meeting by arguing for them, but that it 
was my privilege to as clearly and forcibly as I was able to 
give expression to my judgment, and then leave it for the meet- 
ing to adopt, and I can not now remember ever having deviated 
from this rule during all my active service. And I can now see 
the wisdom of this opening to my understanding. I had as be- 
fore observed a love for controversy, was very positive in my 
statement of my ideas and had I indulged in argument to press 
those ideas would have met a counter feeling that would have 
tended to destroy the love we should bear each other and inter- 
fered with my future usefulness. Two particular incidents are re- 
called to memory as I pen this experience. One when about 
twenty-two years of age, in which a subject was being discussed 
in the monthly meeting, and party feeling was engendered and 
the meeting seemed to be nearly divided. After it had spent 
nearly an hour in the discussion, in which I had not taken any 
part, a solution of the difficulty, as I thought, opened before me, 
and I rose and gave expression to what I saw and offered a 
proposition which differed from anything that had been presented. 
As I sat down a leader of one of the factions immediately rose 
and excitedly said, " John, thou art nothing but a boy among old 
men, to be seen and not heard." Immediately a deep silence over- 
spread the meeting when one of the elderly friends in the gallery 
rose and said, " I think the proposition our young friend has 
made is correct and I cordially approve it," and this was followed 
by so large an expression that it was adopted and the trouble 
settled. I was not in the least disturbed nor discouraged, nor 
would I have been had my proposition been rejected. I had done 
my duty and could there leave it. 

The other occurred some years later. A Friend from a neigh- 
boring Quarterly Meeting was in attendance at one of our Quar- 
terly Meetings with a minute which I had learned had been 



Marriage and Further Religious Experience 29 

obtained under questionable circumstances, the Friend hav- 
ing an unsettled difficulty with one of the members of his 
own meeting. He was a gifted man when rightly under Divine 
guidance, and had delivered an eloquent testimony, but knowing 
the facts under which he had come it did not impress me deeply, 
but by those who did not know the circumstances it was thought 
to be a powerful testimony. When his minute was read, one of 
the Elders, a very positive character, proposed that the meeting 
endorse his minute, a proceeeding which had not been practiced 
in Genesee Yearly Meeting since its organization, it having been 
discontinued in New York Yearly Meeting after the separation. 
Such a proposition in face of what I knew, was very trying, and 
I opposed it mainly on the ground of precedent, and that it was 
unnecessary, clearly stating my position without any allusion to 
the facts regarding the manner of obtaining the minute. The 
Elder replied to me rather caustically, and pressed this point, un- 
til I rose and said, " I have given my judgment, it remains un- 
altered, but I will go with my friends." When the meeting closed 
an old friend in whom I had great confidence came to me and said 
lovingly, " John, we frequently gain more by submitting our 
opinions than we do by pressing them." Within a month after- 
ward the Elder who had carried his point acknowledged to me 
that I was right and he was wrong ; that had it to be done over 
again he would not make such a proposition. And thereby the 
loving feeling was kept unbroken between us, and a confidence 
in my judgment established among my friends. 

I might mention other instances of a similar character, but I 
have introduced these that those into whose hands this book may 
come may find in them an encouragement to do just the dutv 
plainly seen and there leave it without endeavoring to press it 
even unduly upon their fellow members. 

The first ten years after our marriage passed without any 
special baptism except that referred to concerning the Scriptures, 
but our life had its burdens and its sorrows. Our much loved 
sister was stricken with the same terrible disease which had taken 



3<d Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

our mother from us and for a period of seven months required 
constant care and attention and she quietly passed from earth on 
the last day of the Seventh month, 1850. Her patience under her 
suffering, the sweetness of her smile as we met for the daily morn- 
ing greeting, her loving counsel, the undoubted readiness for her 
brighter home, have ever lived brightly in memory. Our mar- 
riage was peculiarly gratifying to her and she seemed to rejoice 
as much in our happiness together as though she was a full par- 
ticipant with us. 

The following notes made during the period of what I deem 
my preparation for my work in the ministry will give some idea of 
the spiritual travail of that time, though subsequent and deeper 
experience has led me to modify some of the thoughts then enter- 
tained and which I can now see were in some measure influenced 
by my environment and education. 

On the twenty-second day of the Fifth month, 1855, I wrote 
thus : " Having been from home most of the day and called to 
transact business with various individuals, on taking a retrospect 
I am not conscious of having acted otherwise than upright and 
just to my fellowmen, yet must acknowledge that when I have 
deviated from the use of the plain language of thee and thou to 
one person the swift witness for truth has followed me with his re- 
proving voice and it has caused my heart with earnest desire to 
seek my God for strength to more and more fully yield to all His 
requirings ; and yet notwithstanding my many errors and de- 
viations He has not altogether hid His face from me. This even- 
ing I have spent some time in reading aloud to my wife from the 
works of Job Scott, and I humbly (I trust) acknowledge it had a 
tendering influence on my mind, and with true wishes that it may 
bring forth fruit to the glory and honor of the great I am, I close 
this day's record. 

I may say in connection with the above, that during this time 
of spiritual study I may term it, I had felt the conviction that 
with the wearing the plain coat I must also use the plain language 
as alluded to. I did not then understand as I now see it that the 



Marriage and Further Religious Experience 31 

testimony of Friends in relation to plain language was not sim- 
ply confined to the use of thee and thou, but was a protest against 
the use of one form of languge to the masses or common people 
and another to those in that day called the nobility, or who were 
the rulers of the people — the principle of the Friend not recog- 
nizing class distinctions as necessary to require the adoption of a 
different form of address to them. Some even in this day lay great 
stress upon the use of this language as being Scriptural, the lan- 
guage of affection and grammatical. As I now see it it is Scrip- 
tural because that was the language of the people in the day when 
the Bible was translated from the Latin into the English. It is 
the language of affection simply because we have long been ac- 
customed to it. Such a combination of letters is not found in 
the Latin, German, Greek or Hebrew. Nor is the word as found 
in their languages and translated into our own pronounced or 
sounded as we sound or pronounce the thee or thou, and yet no 
one would presume to say there are no terms of affection or en- 
dearment used by those who speak these tongues. 

It was grammatical in that day because it was the common 
custom, and as custom makes the grammar of each age so the 
use of you to a single person has made it grammatical in this 
age. While I felt at that time a necessity to conform to the 
usage of the Society of Friends in that particular, as well as in the 
cut of my coat, I see now that this was made as a test to 
try me as to whether I would be faithful to each requisi- 
tion that my Heavenly Father might make, so that I might be 
entrusted with the gift in the ministry that was to be conferred 
upon me, and which in some respects has been a peculiar one. As 
time passed on and I entered into the work and was faithful to 
the openings made, I found less and less necessity to adhere to 
these forms and was enabled to more clearly distinguish between 
the form and the principle upon which the form was founded. 
And while I do not now find a necessity of wearing the same 
style of coat as then, nor of always adhering to the plain language 
of thee and thou to all, yet I find the principle required of me to be 



32 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

a guarded care in relation to my dress, and as I love the plain lan- 
g-uage I use it in almost all cases, but do not find the condemnation 
I have alluded to when I use the common language of the people. 

On First month, Twenty-eighth of the same year, I penned the 
following : 

For the time which has intervened since I last wrote I do not 
know that anything much out of the usual course has occurred, 
having, I believe, been favored to mostly keep on the watch, al- 
though some ebullitions of passion have arisen, yet I have en- 
deavored to check them and have mostly been successful. This 
day has been one of no ordinary interest to me. At meeting I 
was favored during the first part with a good degree of quiet 
which was broken by a communication from one, who though not 
a member insists in thus disturbing our meetings. He arose with 
the text : " I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh 
to the Father but by me," but as it was soon evident that he was 
warmed by the sparks of his own kindling, the subject became too 
deep for him and he was unable to explain it, thus manifesting 
that man in his own wisdom and understanding is unable to com- 
prehend the deep things of God. 

Such was the tried state of my mind that I fear I was not 
careful to attend to my own duties, but dwelt upon his neglect of 
those allotted to him, and thereby lost the enjoyment of the sweet 
communion with the Father of which at times I had been made a 
partaker, and thus by not keeping on the watch as another in- 
dividual arose and had something to offer, perhaps I was inca- 
pacitated to receive it, for it seemed to me to partake more of 
man's wisdom than of the Divine, but the fault may have been 
mine, and in consequence of looking at and suffering my mind to 
be tried with the actions of others. The latter part of the meet- 
ing was dull and irksome to me. O that I may more and more 
learn to put my trust in my God, and be enabled to confide in 
Him, with the belief that " He doeth all things well," and that 
after we have been sufficiently tried, we shall come forth from the 
furnace as pure gold, and all the dross and reprobate silver will 



Marriage and Further Religious Exi>erience 33 

be removed and those who thus stand the test will know of rising 
above all opposing spirits and that they will not again be per- 
mitted to interrupt the communion of the soul with God. 

This evening went on a social visit to the home of an uncle and 
found a large company assembled, and though we had a very 
social time wherein the jest and laughter resounded, I felt much 
liberty to join with them in it. In the course of the evening the 
subject of " Woman's Rights " was introduced and discussed, 
in which I joined to a considerable extent and which led to a chain 
of reflection which I feel best to pen. 

In the course which this subject has taken before the world, 
much has been said and written both for and against, yet in all 
that has come to my knowledge its advocates have only appealed 
to the lower governing principle in man, to wit, reason, and have 
neglected to commence, at what appears to me to be the root 
from which the complaint and grievances which need to be righted 
have sprung. 

They have sought to sustain themselves by denouncing the 
selfishness of others instead of striking at selfishness as found in 
all grades of society in the heart, by advocating the living by each 
and all a true, devoted Christian life and being brought thereby 
under the benign influence of the Gospel, which alone can destroy 
or control our selfish desires and lead us to be subject to the direc- 
tion of the Divine will. Were this the most earnest desire of the 
heart it would confer a greater benefit upon both men and 
women and sooner lead to the investment of woman with her 
proper rights and principles. 

First month, Twenty-ninth. Notwithstanding resolution after 
resolution has been formed by me to ever keep on the watch, I 
have again been made to feel the entire inability of man unas- 
sisted by his Heavenly Father to do any good thing or to carry out 
his resolves. As I have during the day given way to a fretful and 
impatient feeling, with occasional eruptions of passion, and for a 
long time was unable to master it, though conscious that the wit- 
ness within was reproving, and so I was made to sensibly realize 
that though the Spirit was willing the flesh was indeed weak. 



! ■■:■ * 






34 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Eighth month, Fifteenth. Having had to acknowledge with a 
fervent thankfulness that it has pleased my Heavenly Father to 
again make me a recipient of His bounty, though He has seen 
meet to require of me some trying duties by speaking plain things 
to my fellow men. I have felt to pen a few lines descriptive of 
my reflection and the openings to my spiritual vision. The time 
since the last date has passed without much to mar my peace save 
the occasional risings of my naturally quick and angry passions, 
yet I humbly trust through the gracious assistance of my Lord I 
have been enabled to make some progress towards conquering 
them. This day was our preparative meeting and though some 
exciting subjects were introduced, I was favored to keep in a 
calm state of mind under which the Lord was pleased to open 
to my understanding the necessity of our ceasing to dwell on 
the surface of things, but to go as it were to the bottom of 
our Jordan, that we may bring up from thence stones of living 
memorial, to cease to act from mere policy and to no longer 
reason with flesh and blood concerning what the Lord may re- 
quire of us, and not strive to look beyond the performance 
of the present duty to study what consequences may arise for 
mere policy's sake, but to, in all cases, act from principle and to 
try all our acts by this criterion. Then our conduct will be 
owned by the Truth, and He who is the crown and diadem of all 
rightly gathered assemblies, will be recognized to have been 
our guide and director. 

Within a few days past I have been led to reflect upon the 
propriety of the true Christian appealing to the law to redress 
his wrong, and the result of these reflections has been, that he who 
comes to fully carry out the injunction of the Divine Master in 
His sermon on the mount, viz., " When thou art smitten on the 
one cheek turn to him the other also ; if thine enemy compel thee 
to go with him a mile go with him twain, or if any man sue thee 
at the law and take away thy coat, give him thy cloak also," it ap- 
pears to me that he will have no disposition to retaliate and as I 
understand it, he will not feel at liberty to defend a suit, because 



Marriage and Further Religious Experience 35 

when he fully comes into the before noted condition, as he well 
knows that the promises of his God " are yea and amen forever," 
therefore as He has promised to those who seek first the kingdom 
of God all things necessary will be added, he will be prepared 
to put his whole trust and confidence in Him, fully believing that 
when such is his experience nothing will be allowed to befall 
him but such as is designed for his further purification and 
sanctification. And athough it is said " that out of the furnace 
of affliction He chooseth His servants," yet let it not be supposed 
that the righteous only are afflicted. Nay, nay, for the wicked are 
not only afflicted but tormented, so that there is this wide differ- 
ence between them though afflictions may await the righteous 
yet they know of sitting in heavenly places where nothing can 
make them afraid, and having labored for and found a state of 
resignation they can enjoy a sweet peace even amid the most 
severe outward trials, but not so the wicked. The greater their 
trials the greater the suffering, for they have not only to bear the 
reproach of present errors but also that of those unatoned for 
in the past, and thus truly find that the " way of the transgressor 
is hard." 

I may here observe that further consideration and experience 
have led me to modify my views in regard to defending ourselves 
when sued at the law. For while in so far as may be possible all 
forms of dispute are better settled and with less acrimony by an 
arbitration when so submitted by mutual agreement, yet there may 
be occasions when for the protection of one's character or to 
save one's property from being taken by an unjust and clearly 
malicious individual who will not submit to an arbitration, a 
Christian may be allowed to defend himself before the courts. I 
now more clearly see that the intention of the language quoted 
from the Sermon on the Mount was to apply to the state of mind 
of the one who may be thus sued, that he shall not allow any 
vindictive, revengeful or retaliatory feelings to control him in 
conducting such a defence. 

Second month, Twenty- fourth, 1856. Nearly a year has elapsed 
since my pen has recorded my thoughts and feelings in this jour- 



36 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

nal, and the question arises on taking a retrospective view of this 
interval of time, am I any better than I was a year ago? Have 
I profited by the the visitations and openings to and upon my 
spirit by my Heavenly Father ? Am I leading a more perfect life 
of self-denial ? Have I made any real progress Zionward ? 

In answer I must ancknowledge that I have not made as 
much progress as it would seem I ought to have done. The pas- 
sionate part of my nature still gets the better of me at times. And 
I have not been able to altogether control my aspirations for 
popularity. This day has been one of deep baptism and wading 
as through waters of discouragement in viewing the stripped 
and figuratively speaking bleeding state of our Society and my 
own unworthiness to stretch forth a hand to bind up the wounds 
and assist in recovering the lost ground. Yet ever blessed be the 
name of our God, He saw me in this condition and hath stretched 
out His hand to aid me, and has spoken to my inner ear words 
of comfort and cheer and enabled me to again renew the cove- 
nant I have so often broken, and though the duties He has so 
given seem to be hard yet I will endeavor in the strength which 
He affords to perform them so that I may inherit the promises 
reserved for those who hold out to the end. My soul has been 
bowed under much concern in consequence of the departure of 
those who should stand as watchmen on the walls of our Zion, 
and I have cried out in spirit " O Lord, how long must thy people 
suffer for their iniquities- and backslidings ? " When shall we 
again have a pure living ministry owned by thee and thereby 
edifying the church, soothing and consoling Thy little ones, a 
ministry that shall dispense unto the people bread instead ol a 
stone, and a fish instead of a serpent. A ministry that shall again 
be instrumental in gathering instead of scattering. Yet never- 
theless, O Father, enable me to have patience, to put my trust in 
Thee, and to be fully qualified not only in all things else to say 
not my will but Thine be done. 

As I remember the condition and circumstance which thus op- 
pressed my feelings and led to penning the above, an old and 



Marriage and Further Religious Experience 37 

long-valued minister had made a serious mistake in his third 
marriage, had left his wife and refused to return notwithstanding 
the efforts of friends to effect a reconciliation, and finally posted 
her in the papers and yet continued to frequently speak in our 
meeting, and this to my young mind was so inconsistent and was 
having such a devastating effect upon the meeting that it pro- 
duced the mental suffering alluded to and called forth from the 
spirit the cry for a more pure ministry. 

Second month, twenty-fifth. I have endeavored this day to 
keep constantly on the watch and have been, I believe, mostly 
preserved, although at times the tempter seemed almost to get the 
advantage, and I find I have been most derelict in the use of the 
plain language. My mind has been much occupied with a con- 
cern of which I have been able to relieve it this morning, and 
as my pen traces these lines a sweet feeling of peace pervades 
my spirit and I humbly trust that the Lord will still preserve 
and that in all my intercourse with my fellowmen I may not de- 
part from a scrupulous observance of right, seeking nothing 
which does not belong to me and rendering to every man his just 
due. 

I find nothing penned during the remainder of that year, and 
would note here that up to that time, while I had still the clear 
sight that I must enter the ministry and under the clear openings 
of deep spiritual things would enquire mentally, " Shall I get up 
now ? " no command came and I dare not attempt without. Nor 
was I yet permitted to read the Scriptures and but seldom could 
recall a passage, yet there was experienced the inward communion 
and I was strong under its dictates to live so near the Divine 
requirement that I might be fitted for the work when the call 
came. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Entering on the Ministry and Subsequent Experience. 

I first appeared in the ministry in a week-day meeting in the 
city of Rochester on the Fourth of Twelfth month, 1856, a little 
over two months after I had entered my thirtieth year. 

I had been absent from home attending the wedding of one of 
our intimate friends and had indulged my mirthful and mirth- 
giving nature to an unusual extent, as in my younger years I 
could keep a company engaged in laughter nearly all the evening 
if I felt like it, and I had indulged this propensity on the even- 
ing of the marriage and the evening following to a degree I had 
not done since my conviction that I must enter the ministry and 
I felt no condemnation for it. I know it was innocent as nothing 
was said nor a laugh raised at the expense of the feelings of 
any one present, but it seemed like the bubbling up of an effer- 
vescence from a joyous heart. On Fifth-day morning, it being 
the day of the mid-week meeting, and as I had for years made it 
a practice to attend meetings when in their vicinity we went to the 
meeting in Rochester. I had scarcely taken my seat when I was 
brought under a deep concern on account of some conditions I 
clearly saw were present, and I knew the time had now come for 
me to enter upon the work I had so long expected to be called 
into. As I sat in a sweet and tender spirit of resignation, though 
the call came at what would appear in human judgment an inop- 
portune time, all the message I must deliver was clearly given 
me, and when I fully comprehended it then the word of com- 
mand was given so impressively I had not the least doubt of its 
source and authority. And under this feeling I arose and de- 
livered the message in a clear and unfaltering voice, though I was 



Entering the Ministry 39 

trembling within, and it has been indelibly imprinted on memory's 
page. I first quoted that text " Let your light so shine before 
men that others seeing your good works will have cause to glorify 
your Father which art in heaven." I said it is not necessary in 
order to do this that we should bow the head as a bulrush, nor 
appear unto men to fast nor wear a long sanctimonious counten- 
ance, as I am impressed some of you who are present believe in 
teaching, but it consists in all our intercourse with men in 
maintaining a loving, gentle spirit, being truly upright in our 
dealings, refraining from conscious judgment of those who differ 
from us. Showing by our cheerfulness of demeanor that our 
spirits are at peace, I feel to warn those of you who are relying 
on the outward sanctimonious appearances that you will be deeply 
proved and tried and unless there is a change in your lives and 
more sincerity in your profession you will be found wanting and 
you will have to pass through deep suffering before you can be 
accepted. It brought a deep solemnity over my own spirit and 
over the meeting, and while subsequent events proved the clear- 
ness of my impressions it was not kindly accepted by some on 
whom it bore heavily, though I had no outward knowledge of its 
truth. 

We went that afternoon to another gathering in honor of 
the newly wedded couple, but I was a silent guest. I had now 
entered upon a new field and I realized the responsibility under 
which I was placed, though a sweet peace had crowned the de- 
livery of the message and continued undisturbed during the day. 

My communications after that became frequent, always short, 
and frequently addressed to some state present, but seldom was I 
allowed to quote from the Scriptures. I find my last entry in the 
journal before referred to prior to this experience was Sixth month, 
Twenty-ninth, 1856. When I contemplate the unlimited goodness 
and unbounded mercy of a gracious God to His creature man 
and contrast His dealings with us with the dealings of man with 
his fellow man, all within me becomes humbled and I am ready 
to cry out in the language of the Psalmist, " What is man that 



40 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

thou regardest him and the son of man that thou visitest him." 
Sensibly feeling that with all my good resolutions I am making 
but little progress in the redemption of my soul from following 
the strong animal will, yet it is my most earnest desire and prayer 
and the craving of my spirit thou knowest, O Lord, to be. Let 
not Thine eye pity nor Thy hand spare until all that is within me 
is bowed to Thy righteous will. 

I feel that I am under the preparing hand of my God for some 
mission on earth, and yet how I do retard the purifying work by 
the retrograde steps I take. When I reflect on the influence I 
might exert in the circles in which I move did I always walk up- 
right and pure in the sight of my God, a deep feeling of sorrow 
pervades my mind and I then long to be free from these bonds 
of weakness and sin which bind me, and then I truly feel how 
weak and frail and fallible I am, and that as a man with all my 
endowments I am unable to do anything to advance my soul 
towards a state of happiness or to promote the cause of my God 
among men without His all-sustaining hand is underneath to 
strengthen and support. 

Yet, oh, how much I have to be thankful for, surrounded as 
I am by the comforts and many of the luxuries of life, with kind 
and loving friends and endowed with health, with no room for 
complaint for lack of outward blessings, and still how small in 
comparison are these when contrasted with the blessed privilege 
which it was my lot to enjoy in holding communion with the 
Father of spirits and of knowing that when I had come humbled 
and contrite before Him, bearing the burden of my transgres- 
sions, He has mercifully condescended to relieve me and bid me 
go and sin no more. Should these thoughts fall into the hands 
of any situated like myself I can say to them, be of good cheer, 
be not discouraged, ' but lift up your heads in hope and en- 
deavor to renew your covenant, and as often as the returning 
morning implore Him to assist you to keep a more consistent 
watch over every thought, word and act, that you may not be a 
stumbling block in the way of the sincere inquirers Zionward who 



Entering the Ministry 41 

have not advanced as far in the knowledge of the kingdom of 
God as yourselves. 

First month, Sixteenth, 1857. Another year has dawned and 
added to the list of the past, since I am brought so much nearer 
to the end of time for me, and as in retrospect I look over the past 
the advancement made seems small in comparison with the ad- 
vantages I have received. While I realize that many things from 
the inexhaustible treasury of my God have been unfolded to my 
understanding, and duties have been required of me, which in 
order to perform I have had to pass under the purifying influence 
of the Cross, yet the misses made, the obligations unperformed, 
but paid for in mental suffering warn me not to suffer myself 
to be exalted, but to continually humble my proud spirit, for as 
the mind tastes more and more of the goodness of our Heavenly 
Father and is entrusted by Him with the mysteries of His king- 
dom it sees more clearly its own insignificance and becomes more 
willing to wait the Master's putting forth ere it attempts to reform 
itself or others. That the animal passions which were given me 
by creation are gradually succumbing to the Divine impressions 
made upon my mind is a cause of thankfulness to me. Though 
I yet feel there is no truer saying of the Blessed Jesus or one 
more necessary for us to put in practice than that, " Watch and 
pray continually lest ye enter into temptation." 

While I acknowledge the frailty of my nature in common with 
the rest of the human family, I see no cause for discouragement if 
we endeavor to strive to keep the destroyers of the soul's peace 
under subjection to the witness within, though there may be a 
falling off on the right hand and on the left, though the religious 
organization with whch we are in membership should seem lkely 
to become extinct, yet our salvation does not depend on these 
outward staffs but only upon our own obedience to the law of 
God within our own hearts, therefore be not cast clown, O my 
soul. Be not dismayed, remember thy God can and will support 
thee under all trials and besetments, therefore cast thy care upon 
Him, follow His- teachings, and all will be well with thee, let what 
commotion there may be agitating the world around thee. 



42 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Third month, Twenty-second. Much is said at the present time 
about progress and many are inculcating the sentiment that age 
after age is capable of arriving at a greater state of perfection 
than that attained by each one that is past, and yet I can not fully 
coincide with all that is presented on this subject. 

That man is a progressive being I readily admit, but in what 
that progression consists is where I differ from many ideals that 
are presented for our acceptance. 

We find in the beginning man was placed in a state of inno- 
cence, having come from the hand of his Creator unsullied and 
was pronounced good. He was given the different propensities 
of the beasts of the field which he was directed and clothed with 
full power to overcome, but of the fruit of the tree of knowledge 
of good and evil he was forbidden to partake. 

Hence we see that for this knowledge he must have been de- 
pendent upon his Heavenly Father, for He alone was in posses- 
sion of it, and that this was to be given him as far as he needed 
it to overcome these varions dispositions, so that he might rise 
from this state of innocence by a life of proving until he overcame 
all that stood opposed to his progress towards a state of purity 
and perfection. 

But we find that by not obeying this command of his Creator he 
was cast out of the garden or lost his innocence and was thus 
placed in a condition that to attain this state of purity which 
would have been the reward of his obedience, he must first atone 
for his transgression by passing through a season of suffering 
represented by passing under the operation of a " flaming sword 
which turned every way to guard the tree of life " or state of 
perfection in which he could hold close communion with his God. 
When then he had suffered this purifying principle to purge away 
all the drosss existing in him, and he became thereby fitted to 
journey forward towards the state of perfection which is the 
crowning point to be reached, and which consists in an implicit 
reliance on and obedience to the will of the Almightly Father im- 



Entering the Ministry 43 

mediately and directly revealed to us through the medium of the 
witness implanted in every heart. 

Then there is that in which the true spiritual progress con- 
sists, that is in rising from the state of innocence in which he 
is created to a state of purity through being tried and proved, 
so that he will be able to control the selfish promptings of the 
animal dispositions, and hence it becomes his highest joy and 
privilege to follow the example of the Lamb of God as evidenced 
in the life of Jesus by doing at all times and on all occasions 
the will of God, receiving therefrom the reward of perfect unal- 
loyed peace than which state I can conceive of none higher, none 
holier, none purer, none better, hence it is the acme of the Chris- 
tion hope, aspiration or attainment. 

Experience carries the conviction to the mind of every obser- 
ver that so far as relates to the sciences and the arts man has 
rapidly progressed and it appears as though there was no end to 
the inventions which his ingenuity is extracting from the laws by 
which nature is governed, yet it does not follow because civiliza- 
tion is rapidly advancing over the earth that man is progressing 
in this spiritual relation. 7 he actions of men do not show that 
they are less selfish, or that the higher and nobler powers with 
which they are endowed are having a fuller and freer scope so as 
to lead them to the holier and better life. I would that the annals 
of history could present a different testimony. 

To my mind the conviction comes with an almost irresistible 
force, that though man is thus rapidly progressing in the appli- 
cation of those things which conduce to the comfort of the bod}', 
he is not making the advancement he should under the more 
favorable conditions which surround him in this age and that we 
have reason to expect. 

From my standpoint of view I think man never can nor never 
will arrive at a greater state of perfection than was exemplified 
in the life of Jesus, and which we are expected to attain to under 
the teachings of His gospel and by walking in the path of 
obedience to the unfolding of the law of the Divine within him. 



44 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

It is true that the depraved appetites and passions of men in the 
past have surrounded human thought with clouds and supersti- 
tious traditions since the advent of Jesus, and I can cheerfully 
admit, that in this age by a close attention to the directions of 
Divine wisdom these clouds of superstition and darkness may be 
rolled away and we may not only have a clearer perception of 
truth than did those who were enveloped by them, and may leave 
behind us a greater incentive for those who follow us by a more 
close adherence to the Divine law to come nearer reaching this 
standard of perfection than we have done. 

I therefore reach the conclusion that the true progress of man 
consists in a growth from the state of innocency in which he is 
created to a state of purity as the result of overcoming the beset- 
ments of his lower nature, under which he may fully enjoy the 
conscious presence of God not only in the present but the future 
life and all other progress in spiritual things is but an initiatory 
step in order to attain that state of innocence through a regenera- 
tion or restoration of the soul, the result of which is to> bring us 
under the government of the Lamb of God, and as we abide under 
His teachings we shall experience Him to be the Child born with- 
in us, the Son given who shall be to us the Wonderful Coun- 
selor, the Mighty God and the Prince of Peace.' 

At our Yearly Meeting this year in the Sixth month we had the 
company of that gifted mother in Israel, Elizabeth Newport, the 
meeting with whom after the close of the Yearly Meeting had 
so much to do in aiding me in my religious work, that I feel it 
ought to have a place in these memoirs. 

She came to my father's house in company with John PL 
Andrews and Elizabeth Kirk. My wife and I went over to 
father's to be with them, and after being in the room a little while 
I felt an impression to take my chair and go and sit beside her. 
As I did so a peculiar thrill of feeling passed over and through 
me such as I had never before experienced. Conversation im- 
mediately ceased and in a few moments she commenced address- 
ing me in a touching, tender manner, described that peculiar thrill 



Entering the Ministry 45 

of feeling as having been felt by herself, and then opened to those 
present some of my experiences of which no one but my precious 
wife had any knowledge, and confirming my feelings regarding 
them and pointed out the path in which I should be led. And later 
on in the same summer in visiting families while in our home, 
while she had but little to say to me she brought comfort to my 
dear companion, who had been a little discouraged because in the 
former interview there had been no word of encouragement for 
her. From this time to the close of her life we kept in close 
touch with each other through a not infrequent correspondence 
and some personal minglings, she often seeing my spiritual needs 
while in her home many miles away and sending just that word 
of encouragement I needed. 

I find the next entry in the journal is dated a short time after 
we had thus met on the Seventh month, Sixth. 

" Except a man be born anew he shall not see the kingdom of 
God." 

There are no doubt many, who like Nicodeinus of old, are ready 
to query : " How can a man be born again when he is old ? " and to 
whom it appears that it can only be brought about by a miracle, 
and I feel to now record the views which have been opened to me 
on this subject. 

According to the history of the creation as recorded in the 
Scriptures of Truth after man was created and had the breath of 
life breathed into him, whereby he became a living soul, he was 
placed in a Paradisical state, as the account says in a garden 
which was called Eden, and he was given ''dominion " over the 
beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea 
and also over the vegetable kingdom, and he was endowed with 
capacities to keep and dress the trees of the garden which duty 
was required at his hand, and his reward was to have the privilege 
of freely partaking of all the fruits save one, that of the tree of 
knowledge of good and evil, of which he was forbidden to par- 
take, under the penalty " in the day thou eatest thereof thou 
must surelv die." 



46 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

I understand this to represent the condition into which each 
intelligent soul is placed when brought into the world, and like 
our first parents all we are and all we have is pronounced good, 
and we are like them required to keep and dress the dispositions 
and propensities of our lower nature which are represented by the 
trees of the garden, and we have also the same propensity our 
first parents had to overstep the laws which are given to keep us 
in subjection, and like them when we have tasted of the forbidden 
fruit we have lost our innocence, and have discovered our naked- 
ness, and have sought to hide ourselves behind a fig tree cover- 
ing, or some excuse. And when we feel the convicting power of 
God walking as it were in the cool of the day, we endeavor to stifle 
the conviction, but when the mind becomes cool and calm, freed 
from excitement, we hear His voice in our inner consciousness 
asking " Adam, where art thou ? " and we then realize that we have 
lost our innocent state in which we were created, and thus know of 
entering into that spiritual death which separates us from such a 
close communion with the Father as is needed for our peace and 
happiness, and experience that suffering by which we may atone 
for the sin committed. This state of suffering under the convicting 
power of the Spirit is represented in the allegory as the result of 
passing under the operation of the flaming sword, which turns 
every way to guard the tree of life, and which was said to be placed 
at the east gate of the garden. It is placed at the east gate to 
follow the figure because the first dawn of day is beheld in the 
east, and we find after suffering this penalty of spiritual death 
to the enjoyment of the communion with the Father, that at the 
first dawn of light by which we realize the condition in which we 
have entered through our transgression, that we must yield to His 
convicting power and suffer the will we have exercised in thus 
transgressing to be destroyed and consumed ; that everything the 
Lord's controversy is against must be separated from that which 
is pure and our souls again by this process purified and restored 
to become a fit temple for the Lord's spirit to dwell in. Then 
we experience that which is comparable to a new birth. We be- 



Entering the Ministry 47 

come a new creature raised out of the darkness of death into 
a newness of life, and into the glorious light which can only be 
experienced by the true children of God. 

Then by experience we understand what the Master meant by 
being born again, and we will find that this operation of sub- 
mitting to the convicting power of the Spirit is comparable to the 
flaming sword every time we sin against the Lord and thus 
witness being born anew if we would inherit the crown of right- 
eousness promised to all who love His appearing. 

Eighth month, Tenth. This has been a day long to be remem- 
bered, in which I have been weighed in the balance and found 
wanting, one notwithstanding the many visitations of my 
God, notwithstanding all my covenants and resolutions and the 
openings of truth to my mind when the tempter assailed I 
gave way and found to my unutterable anguish that the great 
enemy to my salvation is yet ever ready to seize every opportunity 
to- raise his hydra-head and destroy and devour, and it is under 
a deep feeling of suffering and abasement of soul that I pen 
this dark picture of my life, and may it be a warning to those 
who may read these lines after my head is laid in the silent 
grave and my soul has passed to the Father who gave it. 

O, in the anguish of my soul I feel to cry with one of old, 
" What is man that thou regardest him and the son of man that 
thou visitest him ? " I acknowledge before Thee, O Lord, my 
waywardness, and ask in sincerity of soul, to once more 
be forgiven and again reinstated into Thy favor and be pleased, 
O Heavenly Father, to strengthen my feeble efforts to overcome 
this passionate nature and in the time of trial and temptation 
forsake me not, for I this day feel that without Thee I can do 
no good thing nor overcome a single perverse disposition. 

Ninth month, Twenty-third. I believe I can in truth acknowl- 
edge that I have kept the injunction of the apostle " to be diligent 
in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord," for while engaged 
in my outward vocation a sweet and holy influence seemed to 
cover my spirit and a deep, affectionate solicitude for the whole 



48 Autobiography of John j. Cornell 

human family filled my heart ; and in thankfulness for this ines- 
timable favor granted me by my Heavenly Father, aspirations 
were poured forth acknowledging that this sweet memory of His 
love was received immediately from Him, and while my soul was 
clothed with this heavenly principle it was opened to me why 
liberty was not given me to attend the agricultural fair of this 
county, which I had expected to until I found my way closed 
up. Though no satisfactory reason was then presented to 
me, but this day I saw, though innocent in themselves, that 
these fairs had a tendency to foster a spirit of emulation and 
rivalry which was contrary to the scriptural advice to " in honor 
prefer one another," and which had an influence to draw the 
mind away from a supreme love of the Creator to a love of His 
creation. Life is short, and with the many temptations which 
assail' us and the many trials we have to pass through we have 
little time enough to prepare for eternity, and when we consider 
the necessity of keeping on the watch in order to preserve our 
unity with the Father, we will find it necessary to avoid those 
congregations which, originating in the desire to promote man's 
interests in this life, tend to foster his pride and to cultivate 
a disposition to outdo his neighbor in making a display and 
thus lure the attention away from the directions of the holy law- 
giver. 

I would have none infer that I regard religion as debarring 
it? votaries from relaxation from labor or enjoying the beautiful 
in nature or the useful in art. No, no ; yet I fully believe that 
as the mind becomes centered in the All Wise, the Omnipotent, 
the eternal God, and is concerned to do His will it will be so 
filled with His love as to enjoy a pleasure, yea a rapture of 
which he who seeks for enjoyment in the things of earth can 
form no conception. Such this day has been my experience, 
for I would not exchange that sweet indescribable peace and 
happiness which filled my soul for all the pleasures of earth 
combined in which I ever participated. 



Entering the Ministry 49 

In my more mature experience of life I would modify some 
cf these expressions, though I fully believe in the principle of 
the thought presented to me at that time, and my experience 
in later life has fully justified the criticism of agricultural fairs 
as they have been conducted in latter years. 

Tenth month, twenty-seventh. It has been my happy experi- 
ence for some time past to realize the full enjoyment of being dili- 
gent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. In reading 
the journals of those whose day's work is done and who are now 
realizing the reward of their faithfulness, I have often remarked 
their expressing themselves as I have above quoted, and thought 
I understood it, but am now sensible one must be brought into 
that state of experience for himself before he can understand 
its full meaning and become a participant in the joy it brings. 
Though now about eleven months have elapsed since I have 
felt called to the work of bearing testimony to my fellow-man 
and to declare unto him the counsel of my God, I have indeed 
known Him to be a rich rewarder for all the many baptisms 
He requires His creatures to undergo, and that as the eye is 
kept single to him His promises are indeed verified that He will 
be mouth and wisdom, tongue and utterance for those he com- 
missions to declare His will concerning His creature man. 

While sitting this evening in silent communion with Him my 
mind was led to inquire into and search for the true meaning 
of the term wilderness as applied to the state of the minds of 
men, the liberty appears to be given to pen the result of the 
examination. I have often heard the term applied to a state 
of barrenness or to a desert-like condition in which nothing that 
was good could be found. 

Now we know as regards the created world what men call 
a wilderness is a section of country more or less thickly covered 
with timber and which has a soil capable, after the timber is 
removed (and which is often very valuable) by proper cultiva- 
tion of producing grass or grain, as food for the domestic animals 
and for men, and hence cannot be designated a barren waste. 

4 



50 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Hence to apply the figure to the condition of the mind which 
is in a wilderness state we have presented an experience in which 
the forms and ceremonies of religion have taken a deep root 
and the up-growing product has spread its branches and foliage 
over the mind to that degree as to obstruct the growth of any 
seed that will support or sustain the spiritual life of man. 

Then as with these trees which compose the wilderness from 
which man derives but little benefit while they are standing, 
but when cut down and converted into lumber for building or 
for fences or wood for the fire, they may become contributors 
to his comfort and necessities. So with forms and ceremonies 
of religion, when they become eradicated from the soil of the 
heart and are made subservient to the great principle of Divine 
Light shining in the soul they may become ministers in aiding 
in the service required of man by his Heavenly Father, and thus 
those things good in themselves when rightfully used become 
contributors to our spiritual advancement. And it is only as 
we let such things as these which should occupy a secondary 
place in our attention usurp that which should be first and 
thereby supplant the good seed of life, that the mind lapses into 
a wilderness state. 



CHAPTER V. 

Early Experience in the Ministry and Openings in 
Connection Therewith. — Continued. 

Eleventh month, Thirtieth, 1857. In recording the experience of 
what I passed through yesterday I have to note that while at 
meeting my mind was deeply exercised upon the subject: " The 
fool hath said in his heart there is no God," and I was led to 
speak closely to that state which professed to believe that reason 
is sufficient for man's guidance in all things pertaining to his 
well-being and happiness in this lower world, for the perform- 
ance of this duty my soul was filled with the Heavenly Father's 
love by which my mind was covered with a sweet peace which 
continued until the evening hour, when, while on a social visit, 
I was not sufficiently on my guard to keep a bridle on my tongue, 
and hence indulged in finding fault with others, and I fear 
gave way to a disposition for retailing news in which things 
were said that might tend to awaken prejudice against those 
spoken of. For this I was brought into suffering and was made 
to feel that it were far better to sit in silence and appear to be 
an uninteresting companion than to indulge in such conversation. 

There truly is need of keeping on the watch continually that 
we may not only be kept from balking our testimonies, but that 
we lose not our inheritance in the Heavenly Kingdom and 
thereby plunge the soul into misery. Hence I feel that when our 
lot is cast into such company as is prone to relate and comment 
upon the faults of others, a dignified silence may often put a 
check upon it and set an example others may be led to imitate. 

May I then be preserved in future from this snare of the 
enemy. The disposition to collect and narrate the different 



52 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

things which are transpiring in the neighborhood should be 
carefully guarded against, for I can speak from my own ex- 
perience (having been given to the practice in a considerable de- 
gree) it leaves a sting behind and dips the mind of one addicted to 
it, particularly if he be a professed follower of Christ, into much 
suffering. 

While commingling in the social circle we may be entertaining 
and instructive when nothing of this kind is indulged in, and 
where the flow of conversation breathes forth the feeling of 
peace on earth, good will to men, a contrary course tends to 
build up selfish feelings which only become as clogs while en- 
deavoring to tread in the path of piety. 

True and undefiled religion leads us, while called to the 
performance of our duty, to bear the testimony given us with 
firmness, but yet to exercise that charity that covereth a multi- 
tude of sins, remembering that we are also mortal and liable 
to err. 

Second month, Fourteenth, 1858. Again I have resumed the 
pen to record some of the experiences through which my soul has 
passed. 

While at times the countenance of my God has been manifested 
to me, watering and feeding my thirsty and hungry soul, and 
thereby sustaining it in its efforts to fulfill His behests and secur- 
ing to it a sweet peace which has proven to be an ample reward 
for the sacrifice demanded of the human will, at other times a 
deep poverty of spirit has been my attendant, so much so that 
I have had to adopt the language of the prophet as my own. 
Oh my leanness, Oh my leanness ! wading through hard and 
deeply proving labor in many meetings and finding but little 
life until near the close. But I can bear the testimony that as 
yet I have never diligently sought without being able to find, 
nor knocked without having some of these things which had 
heretofore been mysterious to me opened in clearness to my 
mental vision. 



Early Experience in the Ministry 53 

This day, as well as others, it seemed as though I should be 
left alone to my own roving cogitations without experiencing 
the voice of my God to say, Peace be still. Yet as I retained 
my faith and trusted in confidence that when it was best for me, 
a calm would be commanded, I was enabled to patiently abide 
the hour of His coming when the sweet peace which covered 
my spirit soothed it into quiet, and I was permitted to enjoy that 
sweet communion without vocally expressing the opening made to 
me, and enabled to see the propriety of these seasons of strip- 
ping, and that they were designed to keep me in a proper depend- 
ence upon the command of my Heavenly Father and thus restrain 
me from moving in my own will and thereby burdening the true 
worshippers and wounding my own spirit. 

We were encouraged to-day to search in order to know what 
the Lord requireth at our hands, and the query arose in my 
mind, How and where shall we search? And the answer which 
came was, we must first know of becoming passive in the hands 
of our God by endeavoring through the aid which He will give 
all those who wrestle in faith and confidence to bring the mind into 
stillness and quiet as regards all works, doings and imagination 
of the creature. Then in this state, as patience abides in us, 
God will reveal Himself and His holy will ; but if we endeavor 
to find these things which belong to our peace by listening to the 
vocal communications of men, or by reading or by attending 
meetings in a formal way, or in the performance of any outward 
form in our own time in our own way, we will find to our sorrow 
that the attempts will prove abortive, at least such has been my 
experience. 

Nothing short of a complete submission to the will of the 
Creator, and of an entire stillness of all that pertains to earth, 
will enable us to commune with Deity, and to feel the incomes 
of His love to make our hearts rejoice. 

Yet I would not have any infer from this that the Almighty 
did not at times arrest man when in a full career of wrong and 
sin, and bring him to a state of consciousness of his condition. 



54 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

But we find that when our first parents had transgressed the 
divine law it was not till the cool of the day that the Lord 
communed with them. And so we will ever find it. Before we 
commit any act we have a law given to us regarding that act, 
and we are then left to our own free will whether to do or not 
to do it ; but if it is done and we were directed not to do it, when 
the exciting cause which prompted its commission is removed 
the Lord our God communes with us with the same query 
He put to Adam: Where art thou? And why is this so? Because 
when the mind is in a suitable state to be brought into quiet, 
wherein it becomes conscious of its condition and the magnitude 
of its transgression, and is then more sensible of its obligation 
to its Creator, and hence more willing to seek for His forgive- 
ness and to covenant to do better in the future, that it may again 
be restored to harmony with Him, and enjoy that peace which 
only follows as the reward of obedience to the law of God as 
immediately manifested to the soul. 

About this time, as nearly as I can remember, there occurred 
an experience in my ministry which seems right to record, not 
alone for its irregularity, but that it may show how I was proven. 
At two different times, and but a few weeks apart, I heard 
clearly the word of command to arise upon my feet, though noth- 
ing was given me to say, except to state to the meeting that 
I so felt, with nothing given me to express. It was a deep trial 
and yet I was calm. As soon as I sat down, each time the 
impression came, I have called for this sacrifice from thee to 
prove thee as to whether thou would be obedient to my command, 
and as sweet a peace followed as had been my experience when 
I had borne a verbal testimony. No person said anything to 
me regarding it, but I could feel that the living travailers under- 
stood it and were in deep sympathy with me. 

About this time liberty was again given me to read the Bible, 
though not as constantly or as frequently as before I had the 
experience to which I have previously referred, and I had more 
liberty to quote from it in my testimonies, and when I read, 



Early Experience in the Ministry 55 

what I read was opened to me in its deeper spiritual meaning 
and always in some practical form as adapted to the needs of 
men in our day. 

First-day evening, Third month, 14. In recording the ex- 
ercises of the day I would remark that it has been one of those 
seasons that engraft themselves upon the memory in indelible 
characters. On rising this morning an exercise which had 
accompanied me nearly all the day before, became forcibly fixed 
upon my mind, but what the event would be I was unable to 
foresee. But soon after getting to meeting, an ardent solicitude 
for the whole assembly, particularly for the younger ones, arrested 
my attention, and as I endeavored to keep close to the opening, 
life was afforded and I believe the command was given, under 
which I stood up and delivered the exercise with which I was 
laboring in the manner which my Heavenly Father pointed out 
while I was on my feet. And on taking my seat a sweet feeling 
of peace for a time flowed through my soul, but I soon felt there 
were some minds in the meeting who, it appeared to me, weie 
ready to judge that I thought that I had attained to a state bor- 
dering on self-righteousness, and T was again introduced into 
a travail of spirit, and as I apprehended it would be right to 
explain to them my real feelings, I rose to then relieve my mind 
when at the same moment a valued minister knelt to suppli- 
cate the Almighty on behalf of the assembly. And this seemed 
to me a breach of order, for I cannot believe that the same 
power would send forth two instruments at the same time in 
the same assembly. And as I could not doubt the authority 
of the friend mentioned, so I was forced to conclude that I had 
mistaken my time, and was almost overwhelmed with sorrow, 
fearing that I had brought reproach upon the truth even as I 
had brought suffering on my own mind. 

Thus this dispensation brought me into deep humiliation of 
spirit and taught me the lesson to be more watchful in the 
future. Still I have felt that my confidence in my God has 
remained unshaken arid that the light of His countenance has 



56 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

occasionally shone through the cloud, bidding me hope on and 
staying me with the assurance that this misstep will in the end 
be a benefit to me, and that if I still lean in an humble, confiding 
trust upon His holy arm it will be the means of promoting my 
growth in the exercise of the gift committed to my charge. 

Having thus given a faithful transcript of the exercises, travail 
and baptisms of the day, I feel the liberty to pen a few words 
for the encouragements of such as may be like circumstanced 
and who may read this when, perhaps, I may have become an 
inhabitant of another state of being. Remember that mortals 
may and will err, and that after seasons of Divine favor, wherein 
the mind has enjoyed to an unusual degree the measure of His 
love, there is the greater need of watchfulness, lest by some 
inadvertent step we lose that peace which it was our privilege 
to enjoy and the mind be plunged into suffering ; but should 
such be the case, let me entreat thee not to let the waters of 
discouragement overwhelm thee, but in deep humility let the 
cry of thy soul be, O Lord sanctify this season of suffering to 
me, and when thou knowest I have suffered sufficiently be 
pleased in thine infinite mercy to again permit me to enjoy thy 
presence, for I feel without thee I am indeed miserable. And, 

Father, suffer not these sins of mine to bring reproach upon 
thy truth, but enable me to so live in the future that they who 
beheld my misstep may become satisfied that it was not a wilful 
error, and that I am again taken into favor with thee and that 

1 am really called and qualified by thee for the great work of 
declaring thy goodness to men and of stirring up the pure 
mind by way of remembrance. 

Then, dear reader, as this becomes the desire of thy heart, I 
am persuaded from my own experience that thy prayer will 
be heard and thou will have to acknowledge the unspeakable 
goodness of thy God to thee when thus compelled to dwell in 
the lowly valley of humiliation. 

Fourth month, Fourth. Though the humiliating lesson has again 
been presented to me to learn that of surrendering to the will 



Early Experience in the Ministry 57 

of my God to stand in the assembly of the people, yet the reward 
of peace was abundantly bestowed. 

The object and benefits to be derived from worshipping our 
Creator in spirit and in truth, I was concerned to bring before 
the minds of the people, holding up to view that it was an indi- 
vidual work and that one could not do it for another, and that 
man could not lead his brother in the path and to the place 
where his Savior was to be found until he had trodden the path 
himself and found Him. Hence external aid could do but little 
for us unless we were concerned to follow the teachings of Christ, 
by whom the will of God is revealed and made manifest to the 
hearts of the children of men. 

I find as I am attentive to the leadings of my spiritual guide 
and know of an enlargement and growth in Divine Truth, my 
mind becomes more and more filled with the love of the Father 
and I am made to experience a foretaste of its universality, 
because I find it growing stronger towards my fellow-men, 
binding and cementing them to my best feelings, and I become 
more and more willing to spend and be spent for their everlast- 
ing good, and that if I can be made the instrument to point the 
way to where they too may with me partake of the waters of 
life, I shall count no sacrifice too great. 

O, Holy Father, what shall I render unto thee for all the 
benefits thou hast so bountifully bestowed upon me? Thou 
hast indeed qualified for every duty required, and oft as my 
petitions have been raised in confidence to thee has the arm of 
thy love encircled me. Still keep and preserve me, O Holy 
One. Turn and overturn till all within me bows unto thee, 
that thereby I may become a vessel purified and fitted for Thy 
holy temple. For I truly feel that without thee I am nothing 
and that only by thy merciful interposition can I be preserved 
amid the trials and tempations which may surround and beset 
my pathway. Hence, O Father, my earnest petition is that 
thou will so protect me that while I am calling others to obedience 
to thy law I may not become a castaway myself. 



58 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

At the yearly meeting (Genesee), which was held in the 
Sixth month, I was very unexpectedly called to act as assistant 
clerk, and under circumstances which were somewhat embar- 
rassing, as one Friend had been named and openly objected to, 
and another named who declined, but proposed that I should 
serve ; but after a few moments I was able to take my part 
without any apparent difficulty, and an episode in connection with 
that event I feel to record as showing the ideas entertained by 
some to whom had been entrusted the work of the ministry. 
When the meeting closed an aged Friend, who had stood as 
a minister for many years, met me on the porch and was very 
profuse in his commendations of my willingness to act as assist- 
ant clerk ; but the next day, when I met him at the house of a 
Friend, where we had gone to dine, as I was engaged in con- 
versation with a visiting Friend from near Philadelphia, he nar- 
rated a circumstance which was full of humor and which caused 
me to give one of my hearty laughs, when the friend before 
referred to immediately said, in a very solemn tone : ' Young 
man, dost thou not know it is unbecoming in a Christian to 
laugh ? " But before I could recover from my surprise the older 
Friends present in a mild and gentle manner so rebuked him that 
I did not feel it necessary to respond. This was to me a lesson, 
however, from which I learned that, while a Christian should 
be circumspect in his deportment, yet laughter might be in- 
dulged in moderation as consistent with that cheerfulness which 
indicates a mind at peace. 

Tenth month, Thirty-first. Although since entering anything 
on these pages my pathway has been a diversified one, and 
various baptisms have been my allotment and a variety of public 
duties committed to me to perform, yet through all I have 
ever found that He who sendeth forth His servants where He 
wills to send them, not only qualified for and sustained me 
through every work, but has been my exceeding great reward, 
and I find as I am attentive and obedient to His voice that day 
by day He opens new paths for me to walk in and I feel a 



Early Experience in the Ministry 59 

deeper necessity for leaving all anxiety for the future and of 
ceasing to rely on past experience and revelations to understand 
what are the duties of the present hour. 

Though as I look back upon the past I recognize so much in 
which I have cause to thank my God, so many merciful preser- 
vations and such an abundant reward for duties performed, that 
it serves as an incentive to keep my faith, my integrity and 
confidence in Him sure and steadfast, when in the hour of deep 
proving I am left for a time in a state of poverty and fasting. 
Hence I feel the necessity of keeping the eye of the mind single 
to the promptings of the witness within me day by day, and of 
endeavoring to be so weaned away from the things of earth as 
to be ever ready to obey the call to those higher duties which 
concern and relate to the salvation of the soul. And I am made 
deeply sensible of the great importance of setting an example 
to those with whom I associate which shall not only correspond 
with the professsion I make, but also convince them that there are 
higher joys, holier attainments and purer enjoyments to be 
found in a life of devotion to the teachings of the witness in 
our own hearts than can be found in any or all of the fascinating 
and fading pleasures and allurements of earth. 

I feel that in the future which lies before me there is a 
straight and narrow path which leadeth to the threshold of the 
throne of God, or to that situation in which the whole soul be- 
comes so engaged in a dedication to the service of the Great 
Creator that it will rise above all those things that tempt and 
allure, and that on either side of this path are besetments, allure- 
ments, doubtings, discouragements and temptations calculated 
to deceive the moment the eye wanders from the true guide. 
I feel, too, that in this future there must come a time when I 
must bid adieu to the scenes of earth, and if I have trodden 
this straight path my purified and glorified spirit shall enjoy 
the fruition of its hopes and aspirations in the presence of 
Jehovah. Hence I feel that I must rightly occupy the present 
moment, I must perform every duty with unflinching fidelity, 



60 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

that my anxiety must be to fulfill my present obligations, leav- 
ing the duties of to-morrow to be performed by the strength 
and ability then afforded. This, I am fully persuaded, will bring 
me into a situation to leave the earth behind me when it shall 
please the Father to call me home. Then, O my soul, praise 
thou thy God for His unlimited goodness to thee, for the preser- 
vation granted thee and for the blessings, both temporal and 
spiritual, thou has been permitted to enjoy, and keep thy covenant 
with Him unbroken. Thus shall I be made useful to myself, to 
my family and to my friends. While the heart overflows with 
love for them, the purity of my life will attach them unto me in 
the bonds of true affection, which shall center in Thee, O Thou 
who alone art worthy of all honor and of all praise. 

Fifth month, twelfth, 1859. A week ago to-day I followed to his 
last resting place the remains of a brother, the child of my father's 
second marriage, and while meditating on the change this morn- 
ing, the void now left, and the mourning under which his parents 
are clothed, the following reflections engaged my attention and it 
seemed fit to pen them. 

What is this earthly life? A scene in which we exist for a 
few fleeting days, surrounded with and enveloped by care, trials, 
temptations and disappointments, one hour brightened by hope 
and the next darkened by adversity, and all reminding us that our 
stay here is but short, and that we should be occupied in making 
preparations to leave this state of existence in such a manner as 
to be able to enjoy whatever of good may be allotted us in the 
life to come, which renders it necessary that our chief object and 
care should be to perform the duties and obligations which belong 
to that higher and holier state which we term spiritual life. And 
in what does this spiritual life consist ? 

To my understanding its duties are of that nature when we 
become careful and earnest to perform them as they are mani- 
fested to us, they bring us into the immediate presence of God, 
and as He is a spirit He reveals Himself only to the spirit or 
soul of man, and while man is obedient to what He requires of 



Early Experience in the Ministry 6i 

him, he then knows of living this spiritual life so as to produce 
peace to his soul and thus enjoy a communion with the Creator. 
But if he neglects these duties and requisitions the presence of his 
Heavenly Father is a continual rebuke, and hence he is not at 
peace, and is therefore miserable and unhappy. 

While the soul continues in- its mortal tabernacle it is so closely 
interwoven with it, because it was designed under the direction 
of the law given to control and govern its movements, hence it 
must necessarily share in and feel the emotions which the animal 
is capable of feeling, so that from this source arises many of 
the temptations by which it is surrounded, the disappointments 
and trials it has to undergo, and herein comes the necessity for 
it to rely on an omnipotent arm, and an omniscient and omni- 
present mind for aid and assistance that it may maintain the 
watch and carry forward the work that is to prepare it for an- 
other state of being when released from the mortal and freed 
from all that can harm, secure against all trials and disappoint- 
ments, it lives in the light of the countenance of Him who sent it 
forth, arrd from whom it continually receives new accessions of 
wisdom, and ultimately finds its peace to be without alloy or in- 
terruption. Then when we contrast this beautiful happifying 
ideal of that state of spiritual life enjoyed by the purified and 
glorified soul throughout eternity, with the checkered life it leads 
during its brief earthly career, why should we mourn when the 
innocent or those who have been purified by an obedience to the 
requirements of their God are called away, even though it may be 
early in life, and it may seem as though the closest natural ties 
are severed? Should we not rather mourn that we have yet and 
perhaps deeper trials to encounter ere we are prepared to be re- 
ceived into the company of the just and perfect souls whose robes 
are washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, or in that 
which constitutes its life, the constant desire and willingness to 
know and do his Heavenly Father's will. 

Twelfth month, Eighteenth. Though months have waned away 
since I have made a record on these pages yet they have not come 



62 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

and gone without leaving some imprints by which to recall them, 
and yet but little if anything has transpired in my spiritual warfare 
that differs from that which others have to encounter. As each 
successive duty is unfolded and accomplished and rewarded, I feel 
the boundary of my spiritual vision is being enlarged and new 
beauties greet the sight, and I see the necessity of becoming more 
and more divested of every thing like anxiety that my peculiar 
views and opinions shall be embraced by others, and of learning 
not to endeavor to pry into the inscrutable designs of the Al- 
mighty, and of striving to be content with my own allotment, 
and of seeking ever to be a willing servant, ready to go forth when 
and where it may please the Master to send me relying in con- 
fidence that as He hath hitherto qualified and strengthened for 
every service required so He will continue to do. 

I find that it behooves me to remember that I am but a single 
individual in which the Creator's favor is displayed, and that my 
place is not to put an undue estimate upon my endowments, but 
to remember that others are not only equally endowed but may 
possess a great superiority over me, and hence amid -the great 
variety around me, the vast field in which to labor, as well as the 
multitude of forms in which the labor is to be bestowed, demands 
a close attention to the directions of the Supreme Lord of the 
vineyard, to know what to do, when to do it, and how to begin so 
that the harmony be not broken but all be accomplished, and the 
work rightly done and we be able to receive the approval of Him 
in whose work we have been engaged. 

May it ever be my condition to thus humbly feel and walk in 
whatever situation I may be placed or whatever degree of ex- 
perience I may attain, for when we leave this secure foundation 
and become puffed up by the plaudits of men, nothing is more 
certain than the fall which will follow, and that the soul will be 
plunged into trouble and vexation from which there is no escape 
except through this lowly valley. 

I may also write here that as my spiritual vision is gradually 
extended I find that love which flows into the dedicated heart from 



Early Experience in the Ministry 63 

the inexhaustible fountain leads me to think more kindly and to 
judge less harshly of my fellow travelers, and when a disposition 
to find fault manifests itself I am made to remember that I too 
am finite, and that while I may be thinking myself qualified to 
judge a brother that brother may have discovered some incon- 
sistency in me which, in not being sufficiently careful to sweep 
before my own door, and in looking to what might be lying before 
the door of my neighbor I had overlooked. 

I may also note here, that I have for some length of time been 
favored to resist the temptations of an angry spirit though a vigi- 
lant watch is still needful, and an asking for strength each return- 
ing morning has to be known, yet how great is the reward, how 
abundant the satisfaction when we feel we have overcome through 
the aid of the Blessed Master those enemies of our own household, 
and we can enjoy that peaceful communion of spirit with our 
God, so important in the securing of the soul's salvation. 



CHAPTER VI. 
Letters from 1858 to 1861. 

It seems right to introduce at this stage of writing some letters 
written by me at this period, inasmuch as they will give some 
further idea of the openings of truth upon my mind, as these 
effusions, written in a social correspondence, are usually the true 
indications of our experience. Copies of them were preserved at 
the request of my beloved wife and true companion in these spirit- 
ual exercises in order, as she would remark, that they might be 
useful to some after I am gathered to my eternal home : 

Mendon, Second month, 22, 1858. 
To M. I. After the Loss of His Wife: 

Much Attached Cousin. — I would that I might pour forth the oil of 
consolation and soothe the aching heart, but as these powers and attri- 
butes belong to one who is not only omnipotent but omniscient, it 
is only allowed me to exercise the sympathetic feelings of my mind. 
Though conscious that I am unable to fathom the depth of thy bereave- 
ment, I would not lightly lift the veil to uncover the bleeding heart. 
Yet I am made fully aware that life's pathway is strewn with thorns; 
that change marks all things terrestrial, and I also am sensible no one 
of these thorns or changes rend the affectionate heart as that of the 
removal by the hand of death of the companion of our bosom, one who 
rejoiced when we rejoiced, and cheered us when the dark clouds of dis- 
couragement obscured the pathway. But when we reflect that, though 
taken from us, she has entered within the gates of the New Jerusalem ; 
that her purified spirit has joined the angelic household; that it has en- 
tered the realm where sorrow is unknown, where all tears are wiped 
away; that whither she has gone we, too, may go, and that no parting 
shall cause a pang of pain, that in that heavenly abode of rest her pure 
spirit has no longer to strive with human weakness, shall we then wish 
her back to undergo the various temptations which allure and the many 
trials which combine to make this life one of probation. 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 65 

Can we not, dear cousin, though this affliction seemest more than thou 
can bear, still rely on the arm of Divine Mercy and fully believe that 
" He doeth all things well." I feel while I am writing that, though I 
would pour forth expressions of sympathy, though I would put forth my 
feeble efforts to console, all will be unavailing unless this full dependence 
upon the goodness of the Heavenly Father has been labored for, and 
when that state of resignation is attained He will give forth of His love till 
thy heart is full to overflowing. Still, I know from a little experience 
that it is indeed a balm to the wounded heart to know and to feel that 
other hearts beat in sympathy with our own. 

Let us then, dear cousin, strive to •withdraw our minds from earth and 
endeavor to do more and more in the great work of salvation, so that when 
the call shall come for us to come up higher we shall be found ready for 
the change. 

Oh, may it not be permitted for the purified spirit to at times revisit 
earth, to hover around those they loved here, to whisper warnings when 
evil betides us. Would it not be a consoling thought that when the re- 
ward of good deeds done, of duty performed, spreads its purifying in- 
fluence over our spirits that they, too, rejoiced? 

If these few thoughts should in the least serve to soothe but the passing 
hour and tend to draw thy mind to lean on the arm of Him who alone 
can console, then the object of this writing will have been obtained. I 
do not feel to point out paths for thee to follow, nor duties to fulfil, for 
I fully believe thou art in the hands of Him who chastises but to re- 
store, and therefore to Him and Him alone do I commend thee. 

Truly thy friend and cousin, 

John J. Cornell. 

Menuon, Fourth month 25, 1858. 
To M. I. : 

Beloved Cousin. — Thy truly welcome letter was received yesterday, and 
I have this morning concluded to devote a little time before assembling 
with my friends to offer acceptable worship to the great I Am, to writing 
to thee. My mind has often been with thee in thy deep affliction and 
sore trials, and I have often thought of writing and have as often delayed 
its accomplishment. 

It has afforded me great encouragement to hear that you still kept your 
little meeting and that you are concerned to outwardly manifest your feel- 
ing of dependence upon an Almighty Arm for aid to support you through 
the vicissitudes that are common to mortals. The language to thee, dear 
cousin is, continue to rely on the power, the goodness and the matchless 
mercy of the Infinite Jehovah; confide in His wisdom, obey His man- 
5 



66 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

dates, follow where He would lead thee, and I am well assured He will 
prove a consoler in the hour of bereavement. He will give thee the 
spirit of resignation so that under the most trying dispensation thou wilt 
be able to adopt the language : " Thy will, O Lord, not mine, be done." 
I am well aware that I cannot enter into a full sympathetic feeling with 
thee in thy bereavement, yet I feel my heart drawn out in love to hand 
forth a word of encouragement to thee in the ability which may be given 
me by Him whom we profess to serve. 

Oh, dear cousin, though till recently I have not, since the death of 
my loved sister, been called to drink of the cup of bereavement, yet it 
has often of late been my lot to be dipped into suffering with the sorrow- 
ing and to undergo deep baptism, to go down into the low valley of 
humiliation; yea, down to the very bottom of Jordan, that I might bring 
up thence stones of living memorial to the goodness, the forbearance, the 
long suffering and loving kindness of a gracious God, and have had to 
declare of His dealings with me and His counsels to others in the assem- 
blies of the people. 

When we assemble with our friends, be the gathering large or small, 
as the mind is turned from all things outward and we feel to adopt the 
language : " Here am I, oh Lord ; what wilt Thou have me to do ? " 
how the heavenly incense of His love pervades the soul, of what little 
moment do the things of earth appear, and as we thus come into the 
presence and enjoy the communion of the Father of Spirits, how this 
love fills the heart, begetting desires that all mankind might come, taste 
and see how good the Lord is. 

Let us then, dear cousin, when thus assembled and the cumbering cares 
of earth intrude upon this sweet, silent communion, and the roving cogi- 
tations of the imagination of the creature keep the mind unsettled, do 
as did Jacob of old, watch for the blessing until the darkness of this 
night of conflict shall pass away, and the day dawn upon us in which we 
can behold the beams of the sun of righteousness, and witness a growth 
in those things He reveals unto us, and our strength be renewed to com- 
bat and overcome the alluring things of time. And let us, too, oftener 
than the returning morning, remember the Lord our God. Let the con- 
stant desire of the heart be, while engaged in our outward and necessary 
vocations, that in all things we do all may be done to the glory and 
honor of the Great King of Kings. It will avail us but little to com- 
mune with Him when assembled with our friends unless we are con- 
cerned each moment of our lives to watch unto prayer, and that contin- 
ually agreeably to the testimony of the Blessed Jesus, " What I say unto 
one I say unto all, watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." 

Trials and deep proving are yet the portion of some of us in the trans- 
action of the concerns of Society, yet we are afforded an evidence that 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 67 

there is yet a remnant left who are concerned for the promotion of the 
cause of truth and righteousness in the earth, believing that the Lord's 
table will be filled and if the guests bidden do not come He will call in 
others from the highways and the hedges until it is filled. 

Thy attached friend and cousin, 

John J. Cornell. 

The following letter was written to one who was awaiting the 
execution of sentence of death in the city of Rochester : 

Fifth month 8, 1858. 
Marion Ira Stout: 

My Unfortunate Brother. — We are children of one common Father and 
hence, though thou hast been convicted of the greatest crime a man can 
commit against his fellow-men, I still feel we are children of this common 
Father and thou art therefore no less my brother ; but thy present situa- 
tion demands my pity, my sympathy and the extension of that love which 
is universal in its nature because it springs from no less a fountain than 
an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God, and under this feeling 
and in obedience to what I believe to be the requisitions of that God, I 
am induced to address thee in the language of sympathy and to declare 
unto thee what appears to be His counsels concerning thee. I am aware 
that though I may pen sympathetic words, yet they are but a faint type of 
the real depth of feeling a truly loving heart has for thee. Yet as I have 
not the opportunity of vocally expressing the exercise of my mind to thee, 
there seems no other way left but to communicate with thee by means of 
the pen. 

The dispensations of that God before whose tribunal thou must, in ac- 
cordance with the judgment of men, shortly appear, are always in love 
to the children of men, for no matter how little or how widely we err 
from the moral or divine law He convicts us through the medium of 
the witness placed in our hearts, for He willeth not the spiritual death 
of any and the greater the error the deeper the conviction in order to 
show us our real condition and to induce us to return and receive that 
free pardon which He graciously condescends to grant to all who in sin- 
cerity return to Him and repent. 

With thy guilt or innocence, or with the justice of the sentence pro- 
nounced upon thee, I have nothing to do, and it would avail nothing, 
however averse my feelings and sentiments were to that sentence, but 
the object of this writing is to consider thy situation as thou art now 
placed. A few more days to exist here and then, by the hand of thy 



68 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

fellow-man, in obedience to the law of the land to be launched into 
eternity. Though ere that time (such is the uncertainty of human life) 
the hand that pens this may be cold in death, and the spirit which dic- 
tates it be wafted to the presence of the great I am. Yet there is a pos- 
sibility that a long life may be granted me, but thy days are numbered 
and the solemn call goes forth to thee — Prepare, prepare to meet thy God. 

Deeply as thou hast sinned there is yet time to make thy peace with 
Him, for if it is not made here it cannot be made hereafter, for as the 
tree falls so it must lie. Leave all vindictive feelings, all revengeful 
thoughts against thy fellow-men, no matter how much thou thinks they 
have wronged thee, for thou cannot stand pardoned in the sight of 
God while cherishing these feelings. If they have wronged thee and 
unjustly condemned thee to a dishonorable death remember the blessed 
Master was thus unjustly condemned and ignominiously put to death, 
and yet He could in that hour say, " Father, forgive them, they know 
not what they do," and to this state of love and forgiveness it is absolutely 
necessary for us to attain ere we can find acceptance with the Lord our 
God. 

But oh, if thou art indeed guilty, as thy fellows think they have found 
thee, lose not a moment, waste no time in vain regrets or expostulations 
or pleadings ; listen not to hope that man will relent, till thou hast made 
thy peace with thy God, until thou hast received the assurance that He 
has forgiven thee, and then all thou will have to do will be to bow to 
the decrees of men to satisfy them by the surrender of thy natural life. 
But over the spiritual life they have no control or power. Young though 
thou art in years, and had thou not yielded to temptations many happy 
and useful might have been thy days, but were a pardon to be granted 
thee and thou set at liberty by man such is the organization and the 
prejudices of society that thou would carry the mark of Cain upon thy 
brow. Go where thou would the harrowing thought would still upbraid 
thee that thou had shed the blood of thy brother and sent him, perhaps 
unprepared, into the presence of his God. 

Then if the short time that is left thee be wholly employed in endeav- 
oring to receive a pardon from thy God, and thou art able to realize it, 
all will be well with thee, for if we are prepared for the final change 
it will not matter in what form it comes or at what period of life. 

Then let me entreat thee once more to lay aside all feelings toward 
thy fellow-men, of curses or desires for revenge, and set about the 
work of preparation in earnest, listen to the pleadings of those whom 
thou hast chosen as thy spiritual advisers, though they differ from me 
in the form of worshipping God, yet that matters not if in sincerity 
of heart, prompted by the love of God, they use their efforts in thy 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 69 

behalf, I can bid them Godspeed, but remember all their efforts will be 
unavailing unless thou, too, enter into the work. Put not aside that silent 
though powerful pleader in thy own breast, that which has already shown 
thee how far thou art guilty, that which has reproved thee, that which 
made thee feel disquieted, but put up the earnest petition to Almighty 
God to be merciful to thee a sinner, bow in contrition of soul before Him 
and thou may be able to realize that though thy sins be of a crimson 
dye they shall be made white as wool, though they be as scarlet, they 
shall be as snow. My very soul has been poured out to my God for 
thee, my erring brother, in earnest supplication that He would, ere thy 
time on earth be finished, forgive thee and afford thee a feeling sense 
that thy sins had gone beforehand to judgment. Yes, when my head 
has been reclined on my pillow in the silent watches of the night, thou 
hast been brought to my remembrance and my prayers have been offered 
to Him in thy behalf. 

If then, my brother, a frail creature like myself, can thus be moved in 
tender sympathy and compassion for thee, how much more will that 
Great Being, who is all love and whose judgment seat is covered to an 
hair's breadth by His mercies, have compassion on thee if thou will only 
turn unto Him with sincere repentance. Remember how it fared with 
the poor prodigal mentioned by the Blessed Jesus in one of His parables, 
who, though he had wandered far and wide from his father's house, yet 
when brought to a great strait, turned about and became willing to be 
anything in his father's mansion so that he could be fed from his bounty, 
and mark the tender compassion portrayed when his father met him while 
yet afar off, as he kissed him and bade that the fatted calf be killed and 
a time of rejoicing made, and again the Blessed Jesus declared "that there 
was more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety 
and nine just persons that needed no repentance." And as thou art 
brought into a great strait, O turn then to thy Heavenly Father; leave the 
things that are past, close in with the offers of restoring love which 
have been made to thee, and as thou are faithful thy few remaining days 
I cherish an ardent hope that the presence and power of thy God will 
enable thee to forgive all men for whatsoever they may have done to 
thee and afford thee that peace which will rob death of its sting and be 
the reward of thy coming in even at the eleventh hour. 

And now, in the love of the Everlasting Father, under which I trust 
this was written, I bid thee affectionately farewell and remain thy com- 
passionate and sympathizing friend, 

John J. Cornell. 



70 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Mendon, Seventh month 17, 1858. 
To E. Newport : 

Much Loved Friend. — It being a rainy afternoon and, in consequence 
being unable to proceed with the labor of gathering the harvest and feel- 
ing my mind drawn to address thee, I may acknowledge the receipt of 
thy Very welcome and acceptable epistle of the Twenty-eighth of last 
month, bearing to me news that the mutual endearing interest which 
sprang up between us while thou were here, yet existed. So desirous have 
I been to continue our correspondence and again mingle in feeling through 
the medium of even written language, that previous to the reception of thy 
letter, I had resolved to devote the first opportunity when my mind was 
properly qualified to writing to thee, even at the risk of appearing too 
forward. 

Often of late have I mingled with thee in feeling, oft have I recalled 
the intercourse of the few hours we have spent together, which were to 
me dear ones of refreshment and encouragement, to persevere in the path 
of obedience to the requisitions of my God, unworthy as I am of the 
high gifts bestowed upon me. As I contemplate the various duties which 
at times open to my view, as I look over the work that lies before me 
and which I feel it is for me to accomplish, when I reflect on the humbling 
and necessarily clean-handed work thou wast led to point out for me 
and feel how little strength and ability I possess, were it not for the 
confidence I have that " in my day so snail my strength be," that noth- 
ing will be required but what ability will be given to perform, I should 
almost despair of reaching the port and haven of rest wherein I may lay 
down in peace, rejoicing in the arms of my Savior. I know it is set down 
as a rule in writing or in conversation to say but little of one's self, but I 
do not feel as though I was writing to a mere passing acquaintance or 
friend, but to a companion to whom I can unburden the trials, the working 
and the travail of my mind, and find a sympathing, soothing response, 
an affectionate welcome and an encouraging interest. Were thou of my 
own age or of corresponding degree of religious experience I might 
perhaps be qualified to hand forth a word of counsel or encouragement, 
but as thou hast passed far beyond my present experience I feel that I 
can only interest thee in my communications by evincing to thee the true 
state of my mind that thou may watch its advancement even as a mother 
watches the unfolding of her babe's infantile mind, and as it marks each 
step onward in the path of right a feeling of joy and satisfaction covers 
the mind. 

It has been my lot since thou wert here to mingle with the afflicted and 
bereaved as one of them, and to open my mouth as ability was afforded 
to counsel and console, and in the occupancy of that gift, which I feel 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 71 

has been entrusted to me, I find a little more enlargement seems to be 
required of me and I am often led into close dealing with states, but I 
still feel like a captive struggling for liberty. Much is opened to me in 
great clearness and sometimes, when the opening is extensive, as under 
the word of command, I rise and proceed a little way, the impression to 
stop is given and thus far I have been favored not to overstep it. I feel 
this to be a trial of my integrity, and that confidence in my God which 
I felt in passing through the wilderness state, as I then witnessed of 
being ministered unto and sustained and encouraged, so I now hope when 
it shall please Him whom I profess to serve to break the bonds I shall 
be liberated. I as yet feel but little liberty to peruse the scriptures, 
though I still retain the estimation I have felt for them as a secondary 
means of instruction, yet am fully sensible that I must not depend upon 
anything but that which He is pleased to furnish me with from day to 
day. 

Though various baptisms are meted out to me, yet for the most of 
the time I am in the enjoyment of that sweet peace which is the reward of 
duty performed, and of which one who has not given up to follow the 
Master can form no adequate idea. And now in a continuation of that 
cementing love of the Blessed Master, under which we have thus far been 
enabled to mingle together in such sweet communion and fellow feeling, 
and trusting that such may be our experience, not only through time, but 
throughout the endless ages of eternity, in which desire my endeared com- 
panion wishes to be included. 

I subscribe myself thy much attached friend and fellow-servant in the 
work of the Lord, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Twelfth month 3, 1858. 
To I. B. W. : 

Much Esteemed Friend. — Thou hast been brought so vividly before the 
view of my mind to-day, and accompanied with a deep, earnest desire for 
thy preservation (as well as my own) from the entanglements, the contro- 
versies and the discouragements which surround us as individuals as 
well as the society by whose name we are publicly known, that I have 
felt it right to communicate to thee my feelings and such other views 
as may be presented while I am writing, hoping thereby to strengthen 
the bond of affectionate interest that now binds us and perhaps be some- 
what instrumental in affording thee some little encouragement in the 
path the Lord hath appointed for thee. 

Perhaps there never was a day when there was more need of faithful 
watchmen on the walls of our Zion than the present, or that these watch- 



72 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

men need to be more vigilant and devoted to the Master with a single 
eye to His directions, being faithful to sound the alarm at the approach 
of every enemy, let them come in what form they may. 

When we view the state of our Society and behold the many things 
that have crept in among us having the specious form of godliness, yet 
lacking the vital essence, have we not just cause to fear the enemies 
within the camp more than those that are without? And does it not 
behoove us who have publicly avowed the name of our Lord, who profess 
to be His ambassadors, to the brethren, and who consequently stand as 
watchmen upon the walls, to be careful of every step we take that we 
do not stumble and fall, thus giving the enemy an advantage, not only 
over us, but over the flock under our charge? Nor must we be found 
sleeping at our posts, lest the eagle-eyed adversary gain an entrance. Nor 
when the Master selects us for a situation of difficulty and danger, must- 
we shrink or plead that we are not worthy of the confidence reposed in us, 
but rest confidently on His arm and in His wisdom that He knows us 
better than we know ourselves, and knows when and where to send us in 
order to rightly carry on the work He designs to accomplish through the 
means of our instrumentality. 

Thou, no doubt, well understands the frailty of human nature, and that 
when we look into our own hearts and find there the deep, sincere and 
earnest desire to be found walking in obedience to the call of the Divine 
Master, and thus when we turn over the leaves of our mortal lives and 
view our acts in retrospect and find here a faltering from duty through 
fear of our brother man, there a neglect of the requirement of our God, 
through unwatchfulness and perhaps a willful refusal to walk where He 
would lead us, and then remember the sufTering undergone in order to 
be reinstated to favor with Him in whom our heart most delights, how 
we are humbled, and in this state of humiliation where is there room in 
the heart to judge or hold aloof a brother or a sister whom we dis- 
cover has stepped aside. Is this not one of the situations when in our 
humiliation our judgment is taken away? How then is the heart moved 
with pity for the erring, and how strong the desires that they may be 
brought back to the fold and again enjoy the blissful pleasure of being 
under the kind care of the Good Shepherd. 

The language arises to pen, stand aloof from the controversies that 
are existing in our Society. Neither give way to discouragements for that 
or any other cause. He whom we profess to serve is able to carry us 
through every difficulty, every trial and every temptation with safety. 

It is His cause in which we are engaged and we must know of being 
sent forth with new directions for each duty, and that after our obliga- 
tion is performed, of returning and sitting as it were at His feet, patiently 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 73 

waiting until he again sends us, and then when we clearly understand 
His directions to run with alacrity as a faithful, obedient child, and not 
wait to be compelled to go for fear of punishment. 

Oh the deep necessity there is of minding the Master's time instead 
oi our own. If He requires us to hand forth something for a brother or 
a sister He knows when it is best for us to deliver the message, and if we 
move before or wait until after the right time there is great danger that 
neither we nor those to whom we speak will receive any benefit from our 
labors. 

Let us then gather to Him alone and be very careful not to lean on 
any secondary means or medium of instruction, nor to rely on the openings 
made as it were yesterday, but come each day of our lives into the pres- 
ence of the Great King of Kings as empty vessels waiting to be filled by 
the waters of life which flow only from that pure fountain that contains 
all that is good, ceasing to be anxious about the result of our labors or 
to be held in high estimation among men, performing that which is re- 
quired at our hand, and when, from whatever cause, we have made a mis- 
step endeavor to get as quickly as is possible into that repentant state 
in which we can acknowledge our error and petition for forgiveness. 

Thus shall we be preserved in unity with the members of the church 
of Christ and know of our reward being sure each day we live and there- 
by become prepared to bear the things of time with joy and not with 
grief and when we are summoned hence, we will have the assurance that 
there is a mansion prepared for us in the house of our Lord. 

Thy much attached friend and fellow-laborer in the work of the Lord, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Second month 9, 1859. 
To M. T. : 

Much Valued Friend. — Thy very acceptable epistle was duly received 
and I may acknowledge we shared with thee in thy disappointment, feeling 
that we were not only deprived of thy company, but that thou would 
have enjoyed those solemn, heart-consoling sessions witnessed in both our 
monthly meeting and on the succeeding First-day, for truly they were 
seasons wherein we witnessed the overshadowing wing of Divine Good- 
ness to be spread over us, and many can bear testimony that they were 
refreshed and strengthened. 

On perusing the epistle referred to, my attention was arrested with 
the remark thou makest in relation to the " cessation of Babel building 
and that all might see alike as in the first watches of time," and I feel 
drawn to pen some views on that subject, not to find fault, for thou 
knowest me too well for that, nor to indulge in anything like criticism ; 



74 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

far from it, but in that brotherly feeling thou so well knowest flows toward 
thee, to present them for thy consideration. And here I would not have 
thee attach any undue weight to them, because I have penned them, but 
look to the feeling and evidence within thy own mind for the confirmation 
of their truth, and if thou find it not pass them by. If thou dost, then be 
encouraged to still press forward in the direction the Lord thy God points 
as the way. 

The children of men are placed in diversified situations, surrounded by 
different circumstances, differently educated, and hence view the same 
object in different lights, and therefore it is not strange they should come 
to different conclusions. Be not alarmed while I state that, according 
to the view I have and the consequent conviction resultant therefrom, that 
the deep, bitter persecutions which the followers of Christ have under- 
gone, the vast amount of blood that has been shed on account of religion, 
the bickerings which have scattered the professors of the name of Christ, 
the unhappy divisions in our own Society and the more recent difficulties 
in our own Monthly Meeting, and from which we are now suffering, 
have all had their origin in the vain attempt to bring all to see alike. 
Were not the primitive Christians persecuted because they advanced 
something different from the Jewish law? And was it not for fear 
that the Jews would be divided on views and hence could not behold the 
law alike, and during that terrible season of the Inquisition were not all 
the efforts that men could devise brought into action to bring men to see 
alike as regards the Roman Catholic doctrines? And where lay the 
ground of complaint against Elias Hicks, but that he did not see as others 
in the Society did, and hence the effort was made to stop him from spread- 
ing his views. And in relation to our own Monthly Meeting, is not the 
same cry of unsoundness raised in relation to some of its members? 

The Apostle Paul has declared, " There are diversities of gifts, but the 
same spirit, and there are diversities of ministrations and the same Lord; 
and there are diversities of operations, but the same God who worketh 
all in all." Hence I feel that it makes but little matter in what way the 
tree be pruned and cultivated, if so be that the fruit be good and 
abundant. It is the heart and the motive that prompts to action that our 
Heavenly Father takes cognizance of, and not the forms and ceremonies 
by which we surround the act. I am a believer with Elias Hicks, that 
there are true, devoted children of God in every nation, kindred tongue 
and people, under every clime and in all ranks of men. Yet these cannot 
see alike even in what they regard as essential for them. 

But in all organized bodies the members thereof must see alike in regard 
to the principles upon which the organization is formed. So as relates 
to the Society of Friends, all our members, in order to get along har- 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 75 

moniously, must acknowledge the immediate revelation of the will of 
God to man to be the only guide for him to a glorious immortality, and 
that man must yield an unreserved obedience to this manifested will 
ere he can know of progressing towards that inestimable boon. Thus far 
all must see alike or we cannot exist as a body, but as I have herein- 
before stated, that we are placed under different circumstances, so the 
law necessary to regulate us must be different, though leading to the 
same great end. 

We find there are those among us who are endowed by the Great 
Supreme with but the one talent, while others have the two, the three 
or the five, and we also find among those who have but the one talent are 
infants in the occupancy of that talent ; while others have become as strong- 
men, and so in relation to those who have the five. Now we cannot 
expect the infant of the one talent to see things in the same clearness 
as will the infant with the five, nor the strong man in the occupancy of 
the one as the strong man in the occupancy of the five. Hence these 
different degrees of growth in experience and in the knowledge of the 
Kingdom of God, though they are designed for one and the same great 
end, will not admit of those in whom the work is carried on viewing 
all things alike. 

And here we may discover why the Apostle designates charity as the 
greatest of the virtues, for though we may have that faith which is the, 
gift of God to us, and that hope which is the result of walking by that faith, 
yet if we have not that charity which will accord to a brother or sister the 
same sincerity which we claim for ourselves they will profit us nothing, 
for under such a feeling we would debar them, if it were in our power, 
from an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, because they see not as 
we do. 

Thus, dear friend, thou will see some of the reasons from which I have 
drawn my conclusions and which lead me, the more my view is enlarged, 
in the mysteries of my Heavenly Father's kingdom, to get away from 
the seat of judgment, to seek first by an obedience to manifested duty 
to know my heart to be filled with love and that love to flow hence to all 
the children of our common Father, to be content to do my own duty 
and leave them to His care, believing" that He can best carry on His own 
work, and that it is sufficient for me to work out my own soul's salvation 
under His direction. 

My loved companion joins me in much love to thee and your family, 
under which feeling I bid thee affectionately farewell, and remain thy 
friend and well-wisher on thy journey towards the Heavenly Canaan. 

John J. Cornell. 



j6 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Mendon, Fifth month 3, 1859. 
To Elizabeth Kirk: 

Much Esteemed Friend. — My mind has oft been drawn forth in feeling 
to address thee through the medium of the pen, but from some reason 
its accomplishment has been delayed. I have often recalled those hours 
we spent together while you were here in the performance of the work 
allotted you in the vineyard of the Lord, and more especially do I 
recur to the interview we had the last evening you were at father's. I 
think I never met with any strangers to whom my affections have gone 
out so closely and with so strong a bond of unity as with your little 
band. Perhaps it was the peculiar mission on which you were sent, as 
well as my own state of mind. Be that as it may, one thing is certain : 
I feel that we are bound to each other in that love which emanates from 
the Divine Source and Fountain, and there is unity of feeling because 
the same wisdom is requiring us to work in the same vineyard, though 
different duties are allotted us. 

Oh this precious unity, which those who are making it their chief 
object to become the children of God feel for each other. How it leads 
to the exercise of charity for one another in their different allotments, and 
confident I am that were these on the watch at all times, no jealous or 
envious disposition would be permitted to arraign a brother or sister 
because they had a different or a deeper work to do than was allotted 
them. And then, too, if it seemed best in Divine Wisdom to open 
some views which are new to us or different from such as were gen- 
erally held by those with whom we were accustomed to mingle, we would 
be careful not to raise that desolating, party-creating cry, "Unsound, 
unsound," but would turn inward for strength and wisdom and watch 
the fruits of those who differed from us, and if we find them correspond- 
ing to the teaching and example of the Blessed Master we would wait in 
patience until we are afforded sufficient evidence by the light within us 
that they are truth, and then we can accept them as our own. 

I find myself somewhat peculiarly situated in regard to ail these out- 
ward instrumentalities on which mankind so much rely. It seems as 
though almost everything of that kind is becoming more and more as a 
sealed book to me and I am forced to stand on that independent ground 
which dear Elizabeth Newport pointed out for me, independent of all 
else save the immediate teachings of my Heavenly Father. It sometimes 
seems to me that all this was to prepare me for some future service. 

As my understanding becomes enlarged I see that many, very many 
of our Society are relying on the traditions of the fathers, and that 
there will be dedicated servants called into the field of labor to Combat 
this state of things and who will be required to hand forth from the 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 JJ 

Lord's treasury things that are new, as well as to open more clearly things 
that are old, and these will have to bear bufferings and reproaches, they 
will be called unsound and their testimonies will be rejected by some, even 
as the Blessed Jesus was rejected, but O, saith my spirit, may these deeply 
baptized children of the Lord hold fast their integrity and confidence in 
His power and wisdom. 

Nor do I believe that this held of service will be left to those who 
may be called to vocally espouse the cause of truth, but there will be those 
to whom will be committed the duty to hold up the arms of some Moses 
until the going down of the sun, that the armies of Israel may prevail. I be- 
lieve, dear friend, from my present impressions, that thou hast known 
something of this kind of service and of the baptisms these devoted 
children have to experience. 

Why I should be led to write thus to thee I know not, but such are 
the views and feelings that arise while my pen is recording them ; there- 
fore, believe me, this is no studied effort, for when I commenced I had 
scarcely a sentence in my mind to write. 

Thy epistle to father was indeed cordially welcomed by us all, its 
breathing of comfort and affection were peculiarly grateful, coming as it 
did, when the mantle of affliction had enveloped us. Yes, dear friend, 
one of that band to whom Lhee sent thy love lay in the house cold in 
the embrace of death. Our much loved Charlie has passed to that bourne 
from whence no traveler returns. He was attacked some four weeks since 
with typhoid fever, and though we did all we could, it was so ordered by 
Divine Goodness that we should part with him, and on the night of 
the Third inst. his innocent spirit left its frail tabernacle to repose in the 
kingdom of the pure and holy saints in the presence of God. While we 
feel it to be a severe trial, yet we are desirous to bow in resignation to the 
Divine Will and to endeavor to feel that although we are unable to see 
why it should be so, that it is undoubtedly the best for us as well as for 
him, for when we consider the many temptations that surround our 
pathway through life and the close trials and deep baptisms the best 
of men have to undergo we cannot wish him back, but feel that if prepared 
to receive the glorious crown of immortality a few fleeting days of joy 
intermingled with many of sorrow are not to be taken into account with 
that unalloyed bliss of which the purified souls partake throughout the 
endless ages of eternity. 

Thou enquired in relation to H. Q. There is but little apparent change 
in him save that he has occasionally attended meeting, and I hear less 
of his saying anything about his peculiar views. Thou art aware that a 
few years are but as a moment in the eye of the Lord and it may be that 
the seed sown may lie dormant for some time and finally sprout, take 



yS Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

root and become a fruit-bearing plant, and I do truly desire that it may 
be so in his case, for his talents, when directed by Divine counsel, would 
qualify him for much usefulness. 

Thy deeply attached friend, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Seventh month 24, 1859. 
J. H. Andrews : 

Dear Friend. — A day or two ago I remarked to my wife that thou 
would probably be thinking it was time that you received a letter from 
me and I thought to have written soon after our yearly meeting, but my 
time on First-days has been occupied in various ways, and on week-days 
the business of the farm has engrossed my attention, and thou knowest 
the evenings are short. Well, methinks I hear thee say the apology is 
long enough. 

My thought is oft turned towards you in that land and though no way 
opened to attend your yearly meeting, still I feel that I must come, and 
yet the reason will query, what can thou, a mere stripling, do when 
there are so many gifted ones and where they have so much talent? Still 
the burden remains and at times it seems as though the period was not far 
distant when I should be liberated, and at others all seems dark, and so I 
find the need of patience. 

I know my Heavenly Father has been good to me, and I can add my 
testimony to the thousands of others who have lived before me that 
ability has been amply furnished for every service required. How often 
have the poor servants to depend upon faith alone, and particularly when 
they are baptized into the condition and states of those by whom they are 
surrounded, and having experienced some of those deeply trying seasons I 
believe I can apreciate the sacrifice that must be made when a mission 
is laid upon any such as was your lot while in this land. 

Oh how oft does the creature desire to be led in more pleasant paths ; 
how oft is the aspiration raised that we might be permitted to choose 
our own field of labor. Yet when such thoughts have been presented to 
my mind I find an immediate check, accompanied with the command, 
" Thou must hold thyself in readiness to do whatsoever I require of 
thee." 

Verily it is true that the Lord's servants must become blind to all that 
may be seen with the outward eye and deaf to all that may be heard 
with the outward ear, as relates to these missions among the children 
of men. 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 79 

In this state their whole dependence is upon God and thus they thereby 
become humble and willing to be taught. When the eye of the mind is 
single and the whole body is full of light by which is revealed the knowl- 
edge intended for us and the duties required of us, and is careful 
to abide here it would do away with the controversies among the mem- 
bers of our Society, all being fed from the same table we would be 
careful not to condemn the food that was given to another because it 
differed from that which was given to us, for we would see that it 
came from the same hand and that all are not able to bear strong meat, 
and all do not need milk. O how my spirit is often led to mourn over 
the disposition I see manifesting itself to decry all as unsound that meets 
not or corresponds with what we have seen. Where is the true spirit of 
charity in such a disposition? How my soul is poured forth at seasons 
when this subject is brought before me in petition to my Heavenly Father 
that all might come to experimentally know that " He is indeed no respecter 
of persons," and that it is not those who are sound in theory, but they 
who love God and work righteousness that are accepted of Him. 

It is no evidence to me that because a theory is revealed unto another 
that is hidden from me, that what is thus opened to them is not true, 
nor because men held certain views as correct for a long period of time 
that a clearer view and a more practical adaptation of them may not be 
opened to some in our day or at some subsequent period. We may be 
permitted, in Divine Wisdom, to embrace certain views in relation to 
things non-essential, even as the Jews were permitted to have an outward 
law, and the time may come when it will be necessary that our attention 
should be called away from those peculiar views we had imbibed to some- 
thing more essential, and it may please Divine Goodness to empower and 
qualify some instrument for that purpose. Here, then as our own depend- 
ence is wholly on the revealings of the Christ within instead of trying 
the message of the instrument by our own preconceived notions or ideas, 
we will try it by the evidence afforded by the light of the present 
revelation, and hence we would come to a correct judgment, and be pre- 
served from being barred by reports which might reach us. And thus 
would all be kept in perfect harmony, unity and love, because Christ is 
our head, and we should feel that we all were brethren and had been fed 
by the same hand and led by the same spirit, though, perhaps, in different 
paths. 

In the severe dispensation which has been meted out to us in the re- 
moval of little Charles it seems difficult for dear mother to be reconciled, 
yet I trust her Heavenly Father will come to her help after He has suf- 
fered her to wade long enough in the deeps, as it were. 



80 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

I think I may say the rest of us have been enabled to see in it the 
wisdom of the Most High in removing him from the evil to come, and that 
while we miss his company, his innocent spirit is enjoying unalloyed hap- 
piness in that state where no temptations assail, where no sorrows come. 

I have extended this to a far greater length than I expected and have 
penned the views as they have arisen in that freedom which those who are 
closely linked in love feel toward each other, trusting if there be any- 
thing in them that burdens thy mind or that strikes thee unpleasantly 
thou will not hesitate to chide or counsel one who feels his experience to 
be but small and who is willing to listen to the counsel of the experienced 
in the school of Christ. 

Write soon, for thy letters are always warmly welcomed by thy much 
attached young friend, 

John J. Cornell. 

The following letter was written to a friend in England, with 
whom I had opened a correspondence in regard to a paper I had 
prepared at the suggestion of some of the members of the Repre- 
sentative Committee, in reply to a leaflet sent out by London 
Yearly Meeting to all who bore the name of Friends. The Rep- 
resentative Committee not deeming it best to take any official 
action some of its prominent members advised that it should be 
forwarded on my individual account, which was done through this 
friend and by him introduced into their Representative Commit- 
tee, and I was officially informed that inasmuch as London Yearly 
Meeting had entered upon its minutes that it could not receive any 
communication from those styled Hicksites it would be im- 
proper to lay it before that meeting. But the friend to whom 
this letter was written had it inserted in the British Friend, and 
so its object was largely obtained : 

Mendon, Eighth month 31, 1859. 
To William Bennett, England : 

Dear Friend. — Thine of the Fifth month and the different packages of 
papers have been duly received, and I feel to acknowledge my appreciation 
of the friendly interest thou hast manifested toward me and in further- 
ing the concern in relation to the epistle. From accounts I perceive that 
it is likely to have a much wider circulation than I had anticipated, and 



Letters from 1858 to 186 1 8t 

while I feel that my part of the labor has been performed, I yet earnestly 
desire that it may accomplish that for which it was called forth. 

I have long felt that our principles have not been understood by the 
body of Friends in England, and I am confirmed in the view by a remark 
in the British Friend of the Eighth month in an article signed An Over- 
seer, in which the inference to be drawn is that so far as those called 
Hicksites removed from a state of acceptance with God " that though their 
teachers might claim to be brought to Christ, that they were deceived, 
and such could not be the case while they differed from Friends of your 
Yearly Meeting." Now it appears clear to my view that a mind that 
thus feels must either be under the influence of prejudice or in want of 
proper information, or else clouded by bigotry, and when I behold such 
state of mind my heart is drawn out in love and my sympathy for them 
accompanied with the desire that they may, like Peter, be enabled in the 
visions of light to perceive that of a truth, God is no respecter of persons, 
but that in every nation they that love Him and work righteousness are 
accepted of Him ; not they who assent to or believe in this, that or the other 
doctrine or peculiar view, but they that love God and work righteousness, 
and by doing righteous works I understand doing that which is required 
■at our hand by the Divine Will as revealed to us by the witness for God, 
Christ within, the babe born in the heart who is to be called the Immanuel 
and on whose shoulders the government is to rest. 

If this epistle shall be the instrument of removing the prejudice from 
one mind only I shall feel amply rewarded for all the sacrifices I have 
made in relation to it. 

I believe it will be right for me to refer to a remark thou makest in 
relation to my departing from scripture language when referring to the 
indwelling principle. Now I do not know of any just reason why I 
should follow the language thus recorded unless I am making a quota- 
tion therefrom. When a truth is opened to my understanding and I 
clearly comprehend it, I cannot see what difference it makes what words 
I clothe it with if I am fully understood, and as thou art probably aware, 
at least from the tenor of the epistle, that I acknowledge but one author- 
ity (and that the light within) for direction in spiritual matters, thou 
may see that while I acknowledge the Scriptures to be a corroborative 
evidence of the truth as it is revealed by the light within, I cannot feel 
bound to adopt its peculiar phrases, any more than the apostles when 
writing to the primitive churches felt bound to adopt the phraseology of 
the prophets. 

While we as a Society differ from your body in relation to what con- 
stitutes the atonement for sin and cannot see because we lack the evidence 
to convince us, how that wicked act of the Jews in crucifying that pre- 

6 



82 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

pared body, in which dwelt the Son of God, was necessary that He might 
become a propitiation for our sins. I in humility ask if it would not have 
been far better, more in accordance with the doctrine of Scripture, more 
in unison with the revelations of the Divine Mind, instead of denunciation 
and coolness, instead of assuming the seat of judgment, to have sought to 
win back, to have preserved an affection toward us that would have en- 
abled you to have maintained an influence over us for good, and to have 
indulged a hope that while we acknowledged a dependence upon the 
fundamental principles on which George Fox relied, that we might be 
afforded as clear a light as yourselves. 

Now I have no desire to open anything of a controversial character, and 
will remark that whatever I have penned is the conviction of my own 
mind, and I alone am responsible for it. In my early years, while en- 
gaged in obtaining what of a scholastic education I have, I was taught 
to regard former revelations as sound and that I must receive them as 
they were interpreted to me. I cculd not reconcile this view with the im- 
pressions made on my young mind, and yet I was inclined to look up to 
those who professed to be mouthpieces for the Lord to the people, and to 
such an extent did indulge this inclination that when I had reached to 
nearly manhood I thought it was hardly possible for them to err, but the 
time came when some of these dependencies on which I was leaning were 
tried and I found them frail and finite, and when I was thus cut loose, 
as it were, and left alone the tempter whispered in my spiritual ear, that 
this Divine revelation which they and others had claimed as a guide 
was all a farce, and while thus discouraged and tempted for want of 
care the little light I had became dim, and other doubts came until I 
could even doubt the existence of a Supreme Being and the darkness of 
atheism covered my soul. But blessed, forever blessed be the name of 
Israel's unslumbering Shepherd He did not leave me thus, but after 
allowing me to suffer the horrors of this dark state, though I was still 
justifying my position because of faults and frailties of others He con- 
descended to meet me and speak to me in intelligible language and with 
a power that fastened it upon my understanding, so that it will not be 
effaced while memory occupies her throne, and which convinced me 
whence it emanated. " Though all men else forsake my law, that will not 
excuse thee," and here at one lesson I was convinced beyond cavil that 
there was a God, and that He did reveal himself to man, and not only 
himself, but His will concerning man, and then I was enabled to see 
clearly that this deep trial and season of pro\ing was to shake my de- 
pendence on all outward instrumentalities, and that whatever course 
might do for others, as for me I must depend alone for my guidance 
and instruction upon what was immediately revealed to me, and as I 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 83 

have endeavored to live in obedience to the light thus given me I have 
found peace, and while I have been concerned to recommend my fellows 
to this light as a sufficient governing principle and leader, I have felt 
no disposition to lightly esteem or discard those re-relations of the same 
light contained, in the Scriptures, but have found the openings made upon 
my mind to coincide with and corroborate those records as far as I have 
progressed, and while there is much that I cannot reconcile in its literal 
rendering, I feel not to be concerned about it, but wait in patience until 
it shall please Him who is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent to open 
it unto me. 

I have thus written in relation to my spiritual experience and travail 
to show thee that I have reason to confide in the immediate teachings 
of the Divine Spirit, because I have found it to be a Savior indeed in the 
hour of need, and I can add my testimony that as its monitions are listened 
to and obeyed we shall know first of being restored from our former sins 
and then preserved in present and future hours of temptation. 

I have ever regarded it as the peculiar trait in the character of the 
Blessed Jesus, and which constituted his spiritual food, that he implicitly 
obeyed every direction of His Father, and it is my firm belief that it is 
in this that we are called to be His followers and that these directions 
are as clearly manifested to us as they were to Him. Yet in consequence 
of our neglect or wilful disobedience He sends forth His instruments to 
sound the alarm to call us to a sense of our neglect, and to stir up the 
pure mind by way of remembrance that we, through obedience to His 
will, may become the children of God. 

I cannot feel easy to close this without giving some reasons why I wish 
to avoid everything like a controversial spirit. I have long since become 
convinced that nothing was gained by mere disputation, and that we could 
not convince each other in relation to spiritual concerns; that there was 
but one Power that could afford sufficient evidence upon which to base a 
belief or to come to a judgment, and that while we might in love hold up 
our views for the consideration of others we must leave it to the di- 
rection of Infinite Wisdom to furnish the necessary evidence to con- 
vince; therefore I feel I have no business to assume the judgment seat 
to condemn my brethren because they see things differently from what 
I see them, but feel bound to accord to them the same sincerity I claim 
for myself and to endeavor to cultivate that disposition that breathes 
" peace on earth and good will to men," that will enable me " to love my 
enemies, to do good to those that hate me, to bless them that curse me 
and to pray for those who dispitefully use and persecute me," that I may 
be found a child of my Father who art in heaven. 



84 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Under a feeling of love with which my spirit is clothed, and which flows 
forth to all men, wherever and however situated, I bid thee affectionately 
farewell and should be glad to hear from thee again if way opens, and 
remain, I trust in truth, thy friend, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Ninth month 19, 1859. 
To C. R.: 

Dear Friend. — Thine bearing date of Twenty-second of Seventh month 
last was duly received, and would have been answered ere this had I felt 
sufficient ability, when I had the time, but during my moments of leisure 
my mind was either occupied with some other duties or not drawn enough 
away from the cares of business to be enabled to write with profit either to 
myself or others. 

I am glad thou hast found that the doctrines taught by Elias Hicks 
corroborate the impressions made upon thy own mind by the inspiring 
power of the Divine Spirit, for I believe that when we meet with those 
whom we have reason to believe are or have been devoted to the cause 
of truth and find that their experience runs parallel with our own we feel 
strengthened and encouraged to pursue that path which has hitherto been 
productive of peace to our own minds, though at the present moment 
objects that seem almost insurmountable lie in our way. 

It is not strange that thou finds thyself in the mist, or that questions 
may arise in the mind thou canst not satisfactorily answer, or that things 
and views are presented which thou cannot reconcile with each other or 
comprehend their full bearing or significance, for such has been and still 
is the case with even the most highly gifted and deeply experienced. 

I presume it needs no effort of mine to show thee that man is, by 
nature- of his relationship to the Divinity, a finite creature and that his 
capacity for the acquirement of knowledge is necessarily limited, and inas- 
much as there is but one great power that created all things, so only that 
power can be omniscient and hence man with the most gigantic power of 
intellect he may possess, comes very far short of that attribute of Deity. 
And then it follows as a consequence, this being his allotment, he will be 
continually meeting with that he cannot unfold or demonstrate and there- 
fore cannot comprehend, and then if not wilfully blind he will discover 
how much he is dependent upon the Great Creator, and as he is disposed 
to profit by what he has already known and experienced, he will learn the 
necessity of waiting in patience with faith until that which is best for 
him to know will be unfolded at such time as it is best for him to receive 
it, so that, however diligently he may seek among the things of earth for 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 85 

a solution of the difficulties under which he is laboring, it is only as he 
is afforded an evidence which he cannot controvert by the most subtle 
reasoning he can command (which evidence is furnished by the Most 
High) that he will find the obstacle to his progress removed and the 
cloud with which his mind has been shrouded to clear away. Therefore, 
while I feel at liberty to give thee such views as have been opened to 
my mind in relation to the queries thou hast proposed for me to answer, 
I would first advise a patient waiting and watching for the unfoldings 
of the light of truth upon thy own mind, and judging from my own ex- 
perience, as far as thou art capacitated to bear them, the mysteries of the 
Kingdom of Heaven will be opened to thy understanding and thou wilt 
have the satisfaction of beholding one dark cloud after another roll 
away and thy pathway open up clearly before thee. 

In regard to the subject of conscience, thou remarks, " Conscience is 
a matter of education." Now this is partly true, but not wholly so, as I 
understand it. That there is a conscience that is the result of education 
I readily admit, but I am also fully persuaded that there is a conscience 
which is founded on the knowledge received from the revealings of the 
Divine Spirit to that mind that has become willing to take up the cross 
to the promptings of the human will, and has advanced step by step in 
this path under submission to the laws thus revealed and thereby witnessed 
a new birth brought forth in the heart. That is, all the powers of the man 
become subservient to and directed by His revealed will, instead of being 
led alone by the reasoning powers of the human life, acting from the evi- 
dence furnished through the medium of the outward senses, it is governed 
by the light of His divine revelation, and hence walks by faith and not by 
outward sight. This is what I understand to be a regeneration or being 
born again, whereby we become new creatures, and our conscience is 
the result of what is thus revealed by the inner light, and not of the edu- 
cation we have received from our contact with our fellow-men. As it is 
common when we affirm anything to be the settled conviction of our 
minds to seek for some proof to demonstrate the truth of our position, I 
will take the liberty to make a reference to the history and experience 
of the Apostle Paul as furnishing a striking example of the truth to 
which I have alluded. We find from the Bible account that he was edu- 
cated in the forms and rituals of the Mosaic or Jewish law, and that, 
too, by one of the most eminent men of the age, and so much was he 
bound up by the bias of his education that he could not tolerate anything 
which was opposed to his notions of religion, and he says he thought 
he was doing God service by persecuting the Christians, but while in the 
very act of such persecution, and on his way to carry out these ideas of 
his conscience which he had imbibed from his education, he was met with, 



86 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

the operation of the revealing power of the inward light showed him 
clearly what he was engaged in and where he stood, and also whence came 
certain misgivings or uneasiness of mind which he described as " kicking 
against the pricks," and which was hard for him to withstand, so loth 
was he to give up his traditional ideas, and hence he became blind, not- 
outwardly so, but spiritually; that is, all that he had learned of men 
became obscured and he could not see any way to go as respects his spiritual 
path, and while in this condition an instrument was made use of to convince 
him more fully that this Light which had revealed to him his true state 
was indeed from God, and then the eye of his mind was gradually opened at 
first to see things but dimly or out of their true proportion, and then as 
they really were, and as he was attentive and obedient to the further reveal- 
ings of this Light he walked no more after the dictates of his educational 
conscience, but after the revelations of the Spirit of Truth as immediately 
made known to him in the secret of his own heart. 

I might bring more testimony of a similar character of a later date which 
has come under my notice, but deem this sufficient to elucidate my views 
and to draw thereform the conclusion that if we, in the exercise of our free 
agency, do not turn a deaf ear to the voice of the Inward Teacher, we will 
find that however we may be educated it will not justify us in the com- 
mission of an act which is radically wrong. 

I believe that it is universally the case where we rely on the conscience 
we have received from our education or tradition in regard to matters of 
religion, we are apt to become bigoted and intolerant towards those who 
differ from us in opinion, but when we come to act from those higher 
conscientious principles, which are the result of obedience to the immediate 
revelation of the Divine will to men we discover that the Infinite Eternal 
and All-wise Jehovah is omnipresent, and hence all men are equally objects 
of his cognizance, and that we have no reason to believe that because He 
has revealed Himself to us, He has not also revealed Himself to another 
who may be placed in different circumstances from ourselves, or because 
we find His laws adapted to our state that they would also suit the condi- 
tions of another, and this brings me to the consideration of thy query, 
"Were our Pilgrim Fathers justified in whipping the Baptists and hanging 
the Quakers?" 

If thou hast understood me thus far I think thou must see that my 
answer will be, " I think not." Though I would not by any means accuse 
them of wrong intentions, but from the position from which I view them 
they appear to have been in the condition of Paul while under the influence 
of his educational conscience. They, like him, had become so wedded to 
their traditions and were ready to condemn all as heretics who differed 
from them, and verily thought they were doing God service by ridding 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 87 

their territory of them, but I cannot see as this would be accepted in the 
Divine sight as an excuse any more than in the case of Paul, and I fully 
believe that when the excitement under which these acts were committed 
had passed away, and they came to coolly reflect upon what they had done, 
they felt uneasy and lacked a justification in their own minds, but I would 
not by any means be understood that they had committed an unpardonable 
sin, but as they saw their condition and were really sorry for what they 
had done they were forgiven. 

The question in relation to our mode of existence in a future state, 
and whether we enjoy the same conjugal relationship there as here, is 
one upon which we may form many conjectures and endeavor to satisfy 
the mind by the ideal we have created, but yet it must ever be shrouded 
in mystery while we remain here. I have found but little liberty to 
meditate much upon the subject, for when m\ mind is turned in that direc- 
tion my spiritual ear is saluted with the language, " It is sufficient for thee 
to attend and be obedient to what is already revealed to thee, and to per- 
form what is required of thee, resting in a faith that whatsoever situation 
is best for thee in another world (if thou art obedient in this) will be 
allotted thee." I may, however, remark that I am not without some views 
on this subject, and though I do not claim any particular revelation for 
them I will pen them for thee. 

T have no idea that we shall enjoy the same conjugal relationship there 
as here, and I have come to this conclusion from my conviction, that the 
nearer the soul of man approaches that state of perfection to which the 
Blessed Jesus alluded when He uttered the language, " Be ye perfect 
as your Father in Heaven s perfect," by which I understand a fulfilling of 
the obligations resting upon us of whatsoever kind or nature, the more 
we approach to a likeness of the Divine mind. And I trust it will not 
require any elaborate argument to convince thee that in His dealings with 
His creature man He is entirely unselfish ; that whatsoever we receive from 
His hand, He being the embodiment of goodness, is for our good, and not 
for any thing which will accrue to Himself, for as the Scripture language is, 
and which I fully believe, " He is replete and complete without us." Then 
as we become likened unto Him in our spiritual life so as to become fitted 
to enjoy a communion with Him throughout eternity, the soul becomes 
unselfish, and that love of which it is the partaker and which it receives 
from the fountain of Love God Himself flows forth to all the redeemed 
alike. Now is it not clear that the love which binds us in the conjugal 
relation is purely and necessarily selfish, we are unwilling and ought not 
to share it with any other, and this is necessary to the preservation of har- 
mony and order among men, but with the perishing and passing away of 
these animal bodies, passes away the earthly affinities and there remains 



88 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

only the affection for the spirit bound to ours by the ties immortal and 
derived from God. 

If, dear friend, these reflections shall correspond with the evidence 
afforded thee by the Inward Light I trust thou may be encouraged thereby 
to persevere in following its directions, and if thou art not furnished with 
any such evidence I hope thou will not be discouraged, for I would that 
in thy search for a resting place among the professors of religion in the 
earth that thou be more attentive to what thou finds revealed in thy own 
heart, and then wherever thou may settle or whatever views seem right 
for thee to adopt I can bid thee sincerely and affectionately God speed, with 
desires that we may .both be preserved, so that when done with things 
terrestrial we may join the angelic host around the throne of our God in 
the eternal world. 

Truly thy friend, 
j John J. Cornell. 

Mendon Centre, Eleventh month 22, 1859. 
Joh,n H. Andrews : 

Much, Esteemed Friend. — As quietly seated by our own fireside and the 
mind takes in a retrospective view of our late journey, I am reminded that 
some of those kind friends from whom we received so cordial a welcome 
would at least desire to know if we had been permitted to return to our 
home in safety, and believing that there has been some such desire on thy 
part, I have made thee the first upon whom to inflict my letters. We re- 
turned in safety last Fourth day and found our friends usually well and ap- 
parently glad to see us home and filling our accustomed posts of duty. Our 
visit has been one of deep instruction and encouragement to me, having 
notwithstanding the little value of my labors have yet found many who 
could give me the right hand of fellowship and were made sensible whence 
came the offering. O how oft while there, as well as since, has every feel- 
ing bowed in humble prostration before the throne of Jehovah in aspira- 
tions of thankfulness for the many unmerited favors which were so abund- 
antly lavished upon me, surely have been my secret ejaculations "There is 
no sacrifice too great to be made that I may do all that He requires since He 
is pleased so amply to reward me therefor." 

I do not know but that my experience differs from almost all others 
of whom I have had any knowledge, since I as yet have known but 
little of the severe sufferings they relate of having undergone before they 
were willing to give up. After the severe trial and proving season in which 
the path of duty was clearly opened to my vision, and I was clearly con- 
vinced first of the existence of a God then that He revealed Himself to 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 89 

man, and then His will concerning man, and I was made to see that no 
secondary medium could reveal that will, it was opened to my understand- 
ing that if I would enjoy to the full the blessings designed for me I 
must be a willing as well as an obedient servant. That I must go and per- 
form my Master's bidding when and where and how it pleased Him to send 
me, and that, as soon as I clearly understood what that mission was and not 
wait till the woe was pronounced upon me if I did not go, or in other 
words not wait till compelled to go for fear of His displeasure. This 
condition has appeared, and still does appear to me to be calculated to 
abridge much of the happiness which would result from a cheerful sur- 
render and a willing obedience. We may, perhaps, both of us recall the days 
of our childhood and bring to recollection some incidents in our own 
experience, when under the care and control of our earthly parents, and 
remember how much more worthy we have felt of the smile or kind word 
bestowed when we had obeyed their directions willingly than when our 
obedience was given because we feared they would chastise us. I do not 
know why I am writing thus, for I had no thought of anything like this 
when I commenced, but thus my pen is inclined to run. It may be to 
bring to view something in which thy more mature age and experience 
may be led to counsel or reprove, if so I desire thou may be faithful. 

I have been more strongly convinced than ever, during our late journey, 
that our only safe abiding place is in humility of heart, and that as we are 
careful to keep in this humble lowly state of mind we shall witness that 
our Heavenly Father will preserve us in every hour of danger, coming 
as we did (I say we, for my dear wife is indeed a companion to me in that 
spiritual travail and warfare in which it is my lot to be engaged, and one 
who has thus far been qualified to silently feel with me the stepping stones, 
and to be a helpmeet indeed in the highest sense of the term), young and 
inexperienced among so many highly gifted and deeply experienced, and 
feeling too a dread lest our offering might be despised, and then meeting 
that, if possible, more than cordial reception and everywhere greeted by 
words of encouragement, and feeling too all fear and dread removed, 
is it any wonder, when we look back over all this, that our hearts are filled 
with thankfulness, that we have been preserved from everything like an ex- 
altation of the creature, and that tears of gratitude have coursed down our 
cheeks for so many favors. 

Before leaving home I felt and heard the language, " Thou may have the 
liberty to go and meet thy friends in Darby and Philadelphia if thou wilt 
be faithful to do the work I shall give thee to do," but I little anticipated 
the feast which was spread before me, and I believe I can bear testimony 
to the truth that " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered 



90 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

into the heart of man to conceive of the things the Lord hath in store for 
them that love Him." 

With desires that we may be remembered in much affection to those 
who may inquire after our welfare and particularly to thy wife and chil- 
dren,, and to Joseph and Martha Dodgson, I remain thy sincerely attached 
young friend, 

John J. Cornell. 

A letter from thee is always gladly welcomed. 



Mendon, Twelfth month 18, 1859. 
G. and E. H. : 

Much Endeared Cousins. — It is what is called by the professed Christian 
world generally the Sabbath evening, and a Sabbath evening it is to me at 
this time, for I understand by the use of this term, that it denotes a season 
of rest to the soul and not any particular day or time, as one on which we 
voluntarily abstain from labor or care in relation to our temporal concerns, 
a day or time that may be found and observed alike by the devoted, thought- 
ful mind or by the scoffer at the invitation of the Holy Spirit, but a time 
wherein the soul feels after it has worn its armor and battled fiercely under 
the direction of the inwardly revealed will of God against the enemies of 
its own household or against those dispositions of the human heart which 
as they are given way to, incite it to rebel against the laws of God, but 
which when obeyed lead it to the attainment of the highest happiness it is 
capable of enjoying. I say I understand by the term Sabbath that after 
the soul has undergone this conflict it is permitted to enjoy a period of 
relaxation, and, as it were, bathe in the sweet stream of love, joy and 
peace, a state in which all fear is removed, save the fear of displeasing 
Jehovah, and thus be deprived of these blissful seasons of repose. 

This, dear cousins, is the happy experience of the writer of this, while 
seated in our little sitting room, with no companion save her whom I have 
chosen and in whom I have found that near unity of spirit which sur- 
passes all those feelings of affection which the world calls love, and en- 
ables us to tread not only the courts of care in temporal concerns unitedly 
but together walk in those beautiful halls of peace I have described as my 
view of the Sabbath of rest. 

And here we may behold a lesson of the infinitude of the blessings and 
mercies our Gracious Creator bestows on those who through an obedience 
to His directions are permitted to enjoy this great attainment, that in this 
condition there is no desire to enjoy it selfishly, but there is begotten in 
the heart an earnest hope that every other human being might experience its 
benign effects, and thus while the mind beholds many still harrassed by 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 91 

doubts and temptations, no feeling of superiority arises, but it is led to 
sympathize with and feel for those who are not brought under its cog- 
nizance. In short, love and nothing but love pervades the heart, and flows 
from it in a continual stream of thankfulness to the Eternal, the Infinite, 
with desires for the advancement of the whole human family. 

Oh, dear cousins, you have taken as it were the first step in that great 
highway that leads to peace, a highway which the vulture's eye hath not 
seen, which I understand to be a simile representing the keen-eyed reason- 
ing of man by which he undertakes to comprehend the laws of God and 
their adaptation to the human mind, a path in which the lion's whelp hath 
never trod, which represents the strong unsubdued will of man, which 
would prey upon and destroy those little impressions, by which the 
Divine Spirit leads His little children in their first setting out to obtain this 
great prize. 

I desire that you may not take your rest here and think now, that you 
have made a public profession of the name of Christ, you are safe, 
and that all you have to do is to keep up the profession, for if you do, you 
will find it to be one of those false heavens which must pass away, but con- 
tinue to seek at that fountain of knowledge (which first made you sensible 
that you stood in need of a power higher than your own in order that you 
might be saved), for further instruction so that you may be enabled to 
perform every duty and be preserved in every hour of temptation that 
you may so live in, yet aloof from the world, prepared to enter into an 
eternal blissful state when it shall please the All-wise Ruler to give forth 
the fiat, that time to you shall be no longer. 

It seems right for me to pen some reflections upon what is unfolded to 
my understanding constitutes salvation by Christ. 

I know it is the popular doctrine that, by the crucifixion of Jesus upon 
the cross, all those who believe in His name are to experience salvation. 
And I do not know but these are your views, if so do not judge me as 
seeking to condemn them, or as desiring to convert you to my faith, but 
as I sometimes feel called upon to pen these revelations which I have 
received, independent, as I believe, of any man or anything that has been 
written by men — be they prophets or apostles, I always feel to pen them 
for their candid consideration and if they are furnished an evidence that 
they are true they cannot do otherwise than believe them, but if no such 
evidence is furnished they cannot believe them, and must remain satisfied 
with the light they have, be it greater or less than mine. And it is in this 
feeling that I am led to write to you this evening upon these subjects of 
a religious nature. 

Now I find in my spiritual travail that the first intimation that I have 
committed a wrong act is in my own heart, and not only when I have 



92 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

committed it, but before its commission, there is an impression that what I 
am about to do is wrong, and if I heed the impression I am preserved 
from the commission of that which is thus shown me is wrong and hence, 
for that time, I am saved from the commisson of sin. This I intend to be 
understood to apply to my temporal actions. 

Then, as relates to my spiritual experience, although I cannot now give 
you a detailed account of my gradual progress for want of space as well 
as time, I may say I found a principle or impression which first withheld 
me from the commission of things all men agree to be wrong. Then, as I 
continued to attend to those impressions I found I could more easily 
(then than at first and that by them I was required to) leave off the indul- 
gence of one thing after another that stood in my way as a hindrance to a 
sufficient humiliation wherein I could be taught of God, and this prin- 
ciple or impression of mind plainly showed me that if I did not yield up 
those things that were required I would disobey the laws of my God and 
then commit sin, and though doubts arose thickly to tempt me not to give 
up, yet as I attended to these impressions, I was preserved. 

There came a season in which I was required to do something in a 
public manner, to give to others the benefit of my experience, and then 
came the reasoning nature, with many objections, yet there was ever before 
my mental vision the impression that if I withheld I should commit sin 
and thereby lose all I had gained. Thus, as I listened to them, I was pre- 
served and have witnessed a growth until I can bear testimony of at times 
being permitted to enjoy a Sabbath of rest. 

Now what think you were the nature of those impressions, and whence 
came they? And by what name shall we denominate them? For, in this 
brief description, you have the heads of what has made me what I am, 
and you have an account of that by which I profess to be actuated and the 
authority by which I believe I am endowed with a gift in the ministry. I 
call it the Spirit of God manifested in me, an offspring of Jehovah and 
hence a Son of God, and therefore the Christ, the true Savior, because I 
have found it to be a Savior in every hour of trial and temptation, a pre- 
server indeed, and a power by which I have been led to drink at the in- 
exhaustible fountain of love and if I am not deceived in this, what, I ask you 
to revolve in your own minds has the crucifixion of the body of Jesus, which 
was in all things governed by this spirit of God, by which a union of 
the human soul and this Divine Spirit were so effectually brought about as 
to enable him to overcome all temptation and hence never to sin, to do with 
a plan of salvation such as I have experienced thus far? 

I have felt the liberty to pen these views for you to revolve and reflect 
upon (not to boast of my attainments, far, very far from it). And in your 
reflections I desire you to leave as much as you can the bias of your educa- 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 93 

tion and ask yourselves the question, are they reasonable, and will such a 
plan of salvation insure to me peace in this state of being and unalloyed 
bliss in the world to come. I know you will feel that nothing but pure 
love has called forth so long an epistle upon such subjects. 

In much love, your attached cousin, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, First month 16, i860. 
I. B. W. : 

Esteemed Friend. — I am aware that time has rapidly rolled away until 
months have passed since my pen has traced my thoughts and feelings for 
thy perusal, yet I can assure thee that thou art still oft remembered and the 
aspirations of my spirit are oft raised to the Great Controller for thy 
preservation and growth in the knowledge of the Heavenly Kingdom, and 
that thou with myself might be willing to follow our lowly Divine Leader 
wheresoever it may please Him to direct and guide, and to endure those 
baptizing seasons wherein we are made to feel with and for the erring, the 
neglectful, or the discouraged and disconsolate, that when called to admin- 
ister unto them we may speak understandingly. Thus will we not only 
fill up the measure of the sufferings which were to come after, but will 
know of receiving a full and adequate reward in the satisfaction of feeling 
that we have been instruments of good in His holy hand towards our 
fellows. 

I find that the portion of the service allotted me will not allow me much 
time to spend in idleness, and I sometimes fear my friends will deem me 
too active, too forward, too anxious, but when the mental vision is at 
times permitted to behold fields of labor in prospect and is accompanied 
with the assurance that I must fulfil the duties of the present hour, or I 
shall never be prepared to perform those which will hereafter be re- 
quired, I dare not withhold lest I lose the inheritance of peace when done 
with time and my frail bark is launched on the boundless sea of eternity. 

My dear wife and self have been on a journey to Philadelphia this fall. 
Ever since we were detained from attending that Yearly Meeting there 
has been a drawing towards that section which finally settled in a deep 
and earnest desire to attend Concord Quarterly Meeting held at Darby, and 
Philadelphia Quarterly held at Philadelphia. Finally we felt a liberty to go, 
though no special commission was given, but the language was " If thou 
will be faithful and do that which I require of thee while there thou may 
go," and although when I contemplated that I was going among many 
highly gifted ones a dread would steal over me lest I should appear to be 
out of my place, and hardly be able to perform the service demanded, yet 



94 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

I trusted that, as heretofore, ability would be given me, and I should be 
enabled to do my work (if not to the satisfaction of man) at least to the ap- 
proval of my God, and under this feeling we went and blessed, yes, forever 
blessed be His holy name, not only was the way made everywhere and 
ability given to stand undaunted before the assembled multitudes, but such 
was the cordiality with which we were received, such the expressions of 
unity and approbation, that I found it necessary to keep a close guard lest 
the creature might be exalted and I lose the crown at last. But, dear 
friend, we were enabled to return home bringing not only the sheaves 
of peace with us, but I trust I have been deeply instructed by the many 
interesting seasons it has been our lot to participate in. 

Though they have their difficulties and a party spirit seems to pervade the 
minds of some, yet, when gathered with them in their solemn assemblies, 
I could feel that there was a large body of sincere worshippers whose hearts 
were bowed before the teacher in the inner temple, and who were there 
receiving instruction and ability to try the messages of His servants on 
whom they fell, like the gentle dew, moderately, though surely invigorating 
and strengthening them for their service for their God. 

My heart oft overflows with thankfulness that, amid the struggles that 
have been going on in our Monthly Meeting, I am preserved undisturbed 
and can calmly survey the storms, trusting that when it shall please 
Him in whose cause we are engaged He will speak " Peace be still," and the 
unstable elements will obey Him. 

Perhaps thou may think that I speak too much of myself and that I am 
therefore placing an undue value on my experience, but, dear friend, out of 
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, so from those things my 
own hands have handled and those sweet words of life it has been my 
lot to receive, do I draw the material for my espistolary correspondence. I 
dare not indulge in sentiment drawn from the imagination in quoting or 
commenting upon the revelation made to others, be they ever so appro- 
priate, for they are not my property, neither are they understood by me un- 
til they are opened to me by the same power that opened them to others. 
Thus am I led in my public testimonies (all outward testimonies of others 
are as a sealed fountain to me and faith in the immediate qualification and 
opening for the service required is all I have to depend upon), and I may 
add that thus far I have found this to be all sufficient and it has furnished 
me with plenty of food for reflection in my otherwise unoccupied moments, 
so that I have found the teacher within to be a safe counsellor, a warm and 
an abiding friend and an abundant rewarder. What more can I ask for 
in a spiritual life? 

Thy attached friend and fellow laborer in the school of Christ, 

John J. Cornell. 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 95 

Mendon, First month 26, i860. 
To J. H. C. : 

Beloved Uncle. — Could I travel over the intervening distance that sepa- 
rates us as quickly and as easily as fond affection sends her winged mes- 
sengers of thought, oft would I form one of the social circle in your 
hospitable home and as often interchange those deep heartfelt feelings which 
bind us together with more than a common bond of relationship, yet as such 
privileges though often wished for are seldom permitted to be realized I 
must content myself by occasionally committing to paper messengers the 
duty of conveying the impressions of the mind and the flowings of love. 

Very often, as the earnest desires which cover my spirit for the ad- 
vancement of the Father's kingdom flow out towards my brethren and 
sisters who are making the same profession as myself, have I desired that 
your little band might become more and more united in that heavenly fellow 
feeling under which you could suffer long and bear patiently with one an- 
other's weaknesses, and thus be prepared when one had faltered a little 
through unwatchfulness or had been overcome in an unguarded moment, 
through the power granted by the Holy One of Israel to overlook the error 
and extend the hand of assistance by the kind word, the pleasant smile, or 
the unuttered flowing of the Heavenly Father's love in desires for their 
restoration, remembering that we too are weak and liable to fall, and that 
it is only by the merciful interposition of a gracious God that we have 
thus far been preserved. 

Ah, saith my soul, what a state to be longed for, to feel that all of the 
selfish, harsh judging spirit is brought into silence under the teachings of 
that pure Spirit which woos over man for his benefit alone in order to 
requite him with that pure unalloyed happiness he is capable of attaining, 
and what a satisfaction it is to that heart which knows and realizes such a 
state that no scorn of a brother, no enmity of his, no rejection of those 
pure overtures can (while the eye is kept single to the instructions of the 
Divine Leader) interrupt this holy flow of love nor prevent the secret 
aspiration from ascending to the throne of grace on their behalf. 

And how much better it is, what purer delight is felt, what sweeter 
happiness is experienced, while dwelling under this state of mind, than is 
the lot of that soul which pursues a contrary course, in whose secret 
feelings no forgiveness springs, though deeply injured, no generous im- 
pulses are known, when a brother is overtaken in a fault, who feels that 
those whom it regards as out of the way must make the first overtures 
towards a reconcilation. 

Where would the best of us be did the All-wise Creator deal thus with 
us when we had transgressed His laws? Did He leave us without extending 
the drawing cords of His love to open unto us our real condition and point 



96 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

out to us the path from whence we had strayed and to which we should 
return, and can we not endeavor to become like unto Him. Yes, we must 
if we expect to partake of those ineffable joys awarded to the faithful in 
this life and to the saints or spirits of the just made perfect through 
obedience. 

As I understand it, the whole scope, the whole groundwork of the re- 
ligion of Christ, is to restore the wanderer, to comfort the afflicted, arid to 
preserve the faithful in a state of unselfish love towards all of God's crea- 
tion. It is the deep yearning of my spirit that I may attain to a full enjoy- 
ment of this condition, for when its beauties, its realities, and its joys are 
opened to my spiritual vision, the contentions of the human will, the love 
for the emoluments of earth, the grasping of self, the judgment founded 
on selfish principles, all sink into insignificance, and I feel ready to go and 
proclaim the glad tidings of this pure gospel which mine eyes hath seen 
and of whose joys I have in some measure been permitted to partake, and 
when I meet with a mind similarly situated a unity of spirit is felt that 
words are inadequate to portray. O, then, dear uncle, shall it not continue 
to be, as I believe it has been, the deepest concern of our hearts to press 
forward with alacrity of heart under the leading of the witness within, in 
that path which leads to so glorous a condition, so that we can truly bear 
our testimony by our example that the Lord is indeed good. 

In much affection for thyself and Aunt R., I remain thy affectionately 
attached nephew, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Second month 15, i860. 
E. Newport: 

Much Esteemed Friend. — I am reminded by looking into the Friends' 
Almanac that your Quarterly Meeting occurred last week and hence that 
three months have elapsed since we parted with thee at thy own door, and 
I may remark that during most of that time I have been looking for a mis- 
sive from thee, as I think Judith understood thee at the meeting house it 
was on thy mind to write soon, and, although no missive has been received, 
I remember that I have already written thee two that are unanswered, 
yet so vividly has thou been brought before me for the past few days that 
I have felt a liberty to again intrude my communication upon thy notice. 

I look back upon our short visit among you as one of the most interest- 
ing and instructive eras of my life. Coming among you, as I thought, 
and am now fully convinced, in the liberty of the Truth, yet with that 
liberty granted on condition of my faithfulness to what was opened as my 
duty while among you, in finding a way so readily made for me, and hav- 
ing the evidence that though my labors were in themselves but small, those 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 97 

among whom I mingled were willing to acknowledge them as truth, while 
the sweet peace which filled the heart after each offering amply rewarded 
me. Yet the unexpected manifestation of affectionate regard, the expression 
of unity, and the cordiality of the welcome, furnishes me with food for re- 
flection, and a thankfulness of heart, that amid all these that tend to exalt 
and raise, the creature was kept down, and I was enabled to dwell in an 
humble, trusting and confiding state of mind. 

There are seasons when the very heavens, as it were, seem to be opened 
to my vision, when the deep mysteries of the kingdom seem clear, and the 
contrast which I see between the pure openings and revelations of the 
Spirit and that hearsay evidence on which mankind seem to be relying for 
spiritual instruction, convinces me of how little account all such evidence 
really is in promoting our growth in those things which are essentially re- 
quisite to the salvation of the immortal soul, and as I see at this time the 
situation of those minds who, while acknowledging a belief in immediate 
revelation, are so much bound up in the traditions of the fathers as to 
judge all by the standard they have formed from those traditions, I long 
to open to them the contrast as it is presented to me that they might also 
behold the glorious condition of that mind that has learned to follow the 
light of immediate inspiration, and thereby knows of a guide to its growth 
and experience in those things of which the fathers have testified, to be 
verified by the revelations made to it and can therefore add its testimony to 
its truth, but the time seems not yet. Why, I know not, unless there be 
danger of my not keeping sufficiently humble, and hence might be led to 
rely too much on myself or my former attainments instead of upon the 
revelations needed at the time the duty is required. 

If this be the case I most truly desire that I may be patient under all the 
dispensations of my Heavenly Father, so that I may be fully prepared for 
the work He hath for me to do. 

The controversies, the divisions, the storms and wordy tempests that have 
so often spread their devastating effects over our Society, as I see it, may 
very often be traced to this disposition to form a standard of soundness or 
unsoundness from the attainments of others, and shall I go too far in saying 
that this is a fruitful source of bigotry and intolerance, because the mind 
that solely by faith in the revelations of the Great Supreme is constantly 
reminded by the ever advancing visions which are opened to it, of how 
little are its attainments and the vastness of the wisdom of Jehovah, and 
that to condemn the light given to another because its own light does not 
reveal the same to it, would be to call in question the omniscience, omnip- 
otence and omniprescence of Deity, and hence it is often the earnest 
desire of my heart to be preserved from this state of judging, and to be ever 
found with my spirit covered with the mantle of true charity. 

7 



98 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

I do not know why I have thus expressed myself upon these subjects. It 
seems to me I would have done the same had we been gathered in 
the social circle, for while I am writing I feel as though thou wert present 
with me. 

I remain thy deeply attached young friend and fellow laborer in the work 
of the Lord, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Second month 29, i860. 
To J. and M. D. : 

Esteemed Friends. — Often since our short but interesting (to me) ac- 
quaintance have you been the companions of my thought in my meditations, 
and especially so to-day, and I have this evening felt the freedom to at- 
tempt to open a correspondence with you, trusting that while I may pen the 
feelings and sentiments of my inexperienced mind, should you find any- 
thing that savors not of the right spirit, or which indicates a wandering 
from the true fold, you will freely and frankly convey to me your impres- 
sions and impart such counsel as the occasion may seem to demand. 

It has been for some years the uppermost desire of my heart to be found 
always in the path of obedience to the immediately manifested will of my 
Heavenly Father, and in endeavoring thus to live and walk I find myself 
often brought into contact with many traditions of the fathers, and often 
led in a manner so contrary to the teachings received in my early child- 
hood, that I am inclined to query "Am I not going astray? " and yet I can 
find peace only by giving up to receive such openings as truth has re- 
vealed to me. I find that when I seek for instruction from that which has 
been revealed to others, and which I have not known to be truth from my 
own experience, I am plunged into a labyrinth of doubt and clouded in 
darkness, and then am obliged to return and sit patiently as at the feet 
of the Divine Master and simply be content with that which He is pleased 
to unfold, and cease to be seeking after knowledge from other sources, thus 
learning the necessity of an humble watchfulness and dependence, and yet 
as I am thus taught I find many things recorded in the Scriptures and 
writings of Friends to be opened in their spiritual application, and when 
these corroborating evidences are granted me I am encouraged to simply 
mind the light shining in my own heart and am induced to believe that all 
that is necessary for me to know either as regards my own path of duty 
or to hand forth to others will be unfolded as I am prepared to receive it or 
when required to communicate to my fellow travellers Zionward. 

I have viewed with sorrow the contentious spirit which from time to 
time has made its appearance within the borders of our highly professing 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 99 

Society, a spirit which after forming standards of soundness of faith from 
the attainments of their predecessors in the truth, and while content to 
dwell here, judge all who do not come up to or who may go beyond their 
standard as being out of the truth, and not worthy of their fellowship. I 
have been an eye-witness to the devastation such a spirit makes among a 
people acknowledging a belief in the immediate teaching of the Divine mind, 
and it has appeared to me these effects are caused by a departure from this 
lowly teachable condition of humbly and patiently waiting for instruction 
from Him in whom is all knowedge and who alone can fit and qualify for 
every good word and work, and suffering the mind to take sides for or 
against individuals who have advanced or may be advancing views differ- 
ing from those held by us. 

For myself I find it to be my safest path, first to inquire, does an in- 
dividual acknowledge a dependence on the immediately revealed will of 
God, then are they while claiming to act from such revelations concerned to 
deal uprightly with their fellow men under all the varied circumstances in 
which they are called to act, and thereby furnishing an evidence that they 
are unselfishly seeking the best interests of the human family. When I 
can trace in the lives of such, motives like these, when I can feel that a 
pure unselfish love flows forth from them to the human family, I am not 
alarmed if some sentiments I am not prepared to adopt drops from them 
occasionally. I am not bound to receive anything as truth which I have 
no evidence to be such, and if others have received evidence differing from 
mine why should I call it in question? 

So diversified is the condition of mankind, so different are the degrees 
of experience and varied the talents, that it seems to me to call for a con- 
tinual exercise of the spirit of toleration, and the farther I advance in my 
spiritual progress the more I am permitted to realize the holding com- 
munion with the Father of Spirits, the more I am convinced of the neces- 
sity of looking on the different views and actions of my fellows with a 
charitable eye, for I find that I have been permitted to think a course of 
action was right and have pursued it without compunction when at the 
present time I would not be allowed to follow it, and I now see that pre- 
viously I would not have been able to understand that which has since been 
opened to me, and that I was permitted thus to go that I might be the more 
thoroughly humbled, and be enabled to know that the Infinite Eternal 
Ruler adapts His laws to the condition of His creatures and arranges His 
dispensations so as to produce the desired result of an implicit dependence 
upon Him, and as a consequent experience arising therefrom to feel that 
nil are under the care and supervision of the same Lawgiver, and that as 
each attends to His requirings all will realize the sweet reward of unal- 
loyed peace for their faithfulness. When the mind is permitted to feel this 



ioo Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

happifying effect from a dedication and obedience to the Heavenly Visitant, 
how insignificant becomes all sectarian barriers. The whole heart is rilled 
with love, every aspiration is breathed forth for the unity of the brother- 
hood of man in serving his Creator and acknowledging His superintend- 
ing care. 

Our visit among you last fall will, I believe, ever hold a place in the 
memory as one affording deep lessons of instruction and encouragement to 
me. The evidence afforded me while gatherered with you in your large 
assemblies that though you are abundantly blessed with devoted servants 
who are called vocally to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, yet 
there were very many silent worshippers whose minds were centered home 
to the gift in themselves, and hence were prepared to be strengthened by the 
labors of the instrument. It is to these as well as to the instrumentalities 
that I look for the advancement of our principles, showing by the purity of 
their lives that they have been listening to the voice of God within them. 

In much love for you, in which my dear companion joins me, I am your 
attached young friend, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Third month 19, i860. 
To G. and E. H. : 

Much Esteemed Cousins. — Your last communication was duly received 
and most cordially welcomed both for the language of affection it manifested 
and the humility of heart and spirit of charity and toleration with which 
its sentiments were clothed, and, in replying thereto, while I may, in en- 
deavoring to express the views which have arisen before my mental vision 
and the aspect some of those things alluded to by you bear to me from 
the position in which I am placed, speak plainly, I hope to be preserved from 
everything like a controversial spirit, for, dear cousins, so thoroughly and 
truly am I convinced that no good will result from the indulgence of such 
a spirit that the moment I discover anything like it, either in myself or 
others, I shall endeavor to withhold any expressions, either verbal or 
written, that will feed it. Therefore while we honestly differ in sentiment 
and views concerning our religious obligations, I feel while we express 
those views in humility and love without anxiety on our part to convert 
or convince that no harm will arise therefrom, but on the contrary we may 
be mutually interested and instructed. 

I am fully aware that impressions made upon the mind in early life are 
usually lasting, and particularly so if they be of a religious character. And 
so firmly do they fasten themselves in the mind that when we have received 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 101 

sufficient light to discover that some of them may be erroneous it is very 
difficult to lay them aside to embrace new truths, and we are too often prone 
(instead of investigating that which is presented to us, by the light shining 
in our own hearts to make these impressions the standpoint from and by 
which) to judge of all that is presented for our consideration. Such at 
least has been my experience, and while thus bringing everything to the test 
of what had been taught me in early childhood and reverencing men 
whom I thought were fathers in the Church of Christ, I neglected the 
teachings of the Great Teacher within me, and it well-nigh proved my spirit- 
ual ruin, and as I emerged from the state of doubt and darkness into 
which this led me I was compelled to look only in my own heart, when all 
things pertaining to earth were stilled, for instruction in Divine things, I 
was comforted because when I look elsewhere my path is quickly shrouded 
in darkness. 

I then found, and now find, that when thus instructed many things which 
I before imperfectly understood are made clear and plain, and that my 
heart is filled with love for the whole human family, that everything per- 
taining to intolerance and uncharitableness is eradicated, and I am led to 
see that our Heavenly Father adapts His laws to the conditions of every 
mind He has called into existence, and I now too, see clearly that had I 
followed the tendency of my early teachings, though I fully believe those 
who taught them to me were carrying out their honest convictions, I should 
have become narrow and intolerant in my views and been merely a formal 
professor of the name of Christ, without being a participant with and a pos- 
sessor of His Spirit. 

It is no part of my religious work to pull down the structures of others 
in order to rear one of my own upon its ruins, but simply to set before 
men such truths as have been opened to me and then to feel that if by this 
means through the assistance of the power of the Eternal Infinite One I can 
convince them they are truths, I shall overcome their prejudices and secure 
their affection and it is with such feelings as these that I propose to con- 
sider and reply to some of the remarks in your last epistle. 

I discover that like most professors of the Christian religion you consider 
the Bible the Word of God, and the authority for the truth of that religion 
and the rule by which you are to be governed and to shape your course 
through life, and this necessarily involves the conclusion that immediate 
inspiration ceased with the apostles writings. 

This, dear E., has been taught from childhood and I can readily believe 
it was the honest convictions of your dear mother, yet, dear cousins, I am 
not able so to see it, and as I am convinced from my own experience that 
a settling into such a state of dependence detracts much from the happiness 



102 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

we are capable of enjoying, I feel to lay before you such conclusions as are 
sealed upon my understanding in relation to that Blessed Book. 

I believe it to be a record of the experience of and revelations made to 
those good men who penned them, and that when we have arrived at a cor- 
responding degree of experience we will find them to be a corroborating 
evidence showing unto us that the same duties have been required of 
others, and the same principles revealed to them, and they will confirm 
our experience and encourage us to persevere in obedience to the laws of 
God. 

Now in regard to its being a rule for our government, let me query with 
you a little and let your experience thus far answer : When you are about to 
do an act do you go to the Bible and turn over its pages to see whether it 
will be right or not? Are there not many occasions occurring when that 
book is not by you, or when you have no time to examine it, and yet you 
are obliged to make your choice of action, and under such circumstances, 
have not your minds been impressed that one course would be right, and the 
other wrong, and when you have made your decision, if right, you have 
found a peaceful mind, if wrong, an uneasiness, a wishing you had not 
done it has been the consequence? Did not these feelings immediately 
follow the act? Did you have to go to the Bible to know whether you 
had done right or wrong? If not, then certainly you must have had some 
other guide, and that was a principle and power that would direct you 
and which is ever present with you, which I think, it needs no demon- 
stration to prove, cannot be the Scriptures. 

. Therefore my reason for presenting this to you is simply to invite you 
to a closer acquaintance with this inward teacher which, as you are 
obedient and attentive to, you will find to teach you as never man taught 
and will gradually lead you on until you will acknowedge it is the Christ, 
the Light that enlightens your understandings and your true Savior. And 
why, because as you give heed to its warnings when about to do any act, 
when you follow the course you are impressed with, you will find it has 
enabled you to resist temptation and consequently saved you from sin. 

For these reasons I place this inward monitor which I call the Christ, 
the Savior of mankind, to be the first great teacher, and then I fully be- 
lieve as we are faithful to learn the lessons He requires of us we shall 
the more clearly understand the truths contained in the Bible, for we shall 
be enabled to read them under the influence and by the assistance of that 
power by which they were written, and will thereby be introduced into a 
higher sphere of happiness because we are holding immediate communion 
with our Beneficent Father, imbibing His truths directly from Him instead 
of receiving them second-handed. 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 103 

Methinks I hear the mental query as you peruse this : if that consti- 
tutes a Savior what kind of a view have I in relation to Jesus Christ when 
He appeared among the Jews eighteen hundred years ago. Be not startled 
when I tell you I by no means believe that outward body that appeared 
among men to .be the Savior. That body was human and was tempted in 
all points as we are else He could not have been a perfect example to us, 
but the spirit by which that body -was governed, the power which enabled 
Him to do these mighty works, which abilitated Him to guard against every 
inroad of the tempter and by which He was preserved from ever commit- 
ting any sin, that spirit, that power, was the Savior, which was the same 
that was before the world was, and even with the Father when He called 
order out of chaos and created this beautiful world, and it is this spirit 
which taught, guided, and saved Him that still teaches, guides and saves 
man, and this spirit I believe to be that word which John declared was 
with God and was God. 

Then by full implicit obedience that prepared body called Jesus was 
enabled to bear testimony that it was possible for man to be saved by the 
law put in the heart and imprinted in the inward part, and by this means 
He fulfilled the outward Mosaic law by rooting out every evil propensity 
from the heart, resisting temptation in all its forms. 

And here, dear cousins, I fully believe is figured forth the invitation 
that is held out to us now to become followers of the Blessed Jesus, obeying 
the Christ within us. If this view be correct we are brought to the conclu- 
sion that the death of that prepared body on the cross was no atonement 
for our sins, and this brings me to the consideration of v. hat constitutes the 
true atonement. 

I understand it to be simply this, that each individual, whenever he dis- 
obeys the known law of his God, commits sin and thereby becomes alienated 
from a communion with Him and as a consequence is unhappy, and in order 
to again enjoy that communion and obtain peace of mind there must be 
a sincere heartfelt repentance, and when he thus becomes willing to 
acknowledge his error and seek for forgiveness he will find his sins atoned 
for and be received again into a feeling of unity with God and His devoted 
servants. Does not your experience confirm this? When the conscious- 
ness that you were not fulfilling the great design for which you were 
endowed with an existence first dawned upon you and desires were begot- 
ten that you might be released from the thraldom of vice, was not your 
first act one of repentance? Did you not, on the bended knee of your soul 
(figuratively speaking), raise your secret as well as vocal aspirations for 
strength and assistance to do the will of your God, and did you not entreat 
Him to remember your sins no more. And when you were thus humbled 
and became willing to take up the cross in the gratification and indulgence 



104 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

of those things you had been in the practice of and which you clearly 
saw to be wrong, did not your souls bathe, as it were, in a river of joy 
and peace? Yes; you could sing the song of " Hosanna to the Lord in the 
Highest, on earth peace and good will to men " as on the banks of deliver- 
ance. Was not this simply because you found your sins atoned for and 
erased from the book of life, not because Jesus had been crucified, but be- 
cause you had repented of them, and resolved if the Lord would strengthen 
you you would hereafter endeavor to serve Him. 

I find that in endeavoring to relieve my mind this has become a very 
long epistle, but if I have given you some food for thought or have 
opened new truths for your reception I trust you will not be wearied in its 
perusal. All I desire is that you may weigh seriously and well the views 
advanced, and if there be any evidence in your hearts corresponding there- 
with, embrace them, if not, reject them. Let it be as it may you will ever 
find the same affectionate spirit to flow towards you from the writer, the 
same aspirations of thankfulness to ascend to the Father of all our mercies 
that you may be seeking to serve Him, and the same sincere desires that 
we may be equally faithful to the Light given us, that we may at last join 
the innumerable company of purified spirits around the throne of our 
God. 

Your much attached cousin, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Fourth month 16, 1861. 
To J. H. A. : 

Beloved Friend. — Thy truly acceptable epistle was duly received and was 
a source of deep satisfaction in that thou art so far recovered as to be able, 
though with some difficulty, to resume our correspondence, for could thee 
have beheld the warm smile that lighted up the faces of my household on 
the announcement of a letter from thee, and have felt the responsive beat- 
ings of my own heart at such an event, thou would not think strange that 
we desire to hear from thee more often. 

An epistolary correspondence, when carried on between kindred sympa- 
thizing spirits in which they communicate to each other as ability is afforded 
the promptings and revelations of the Spirit of Truth, in relation to those 
things which contribute to the full development of man's best and truest 
interest, becomes not only a source of momentary satisfaction, but is con- 
ducive to provoke one another to good works, and how much superior, how 
much more to be desired is that state of mind that can thus impart of 
what it has received with the view to aid and assist and encourage than 
that spirit which feels to condemn all which does not agree with the 
opinions it has formed from the evidence it has received. 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 105 

The older I grow the more my observation of men, their nature and 
their actions becomes extended, the more am I convinced that whenever 
we assume the seat of judgment over our brethren in regard to their re- 
ligious opinions, and from the judgment thus formed proceed to pen sen- 
tences either of confirmation or condemnation, we are departing from that 
state of charity which must characterize the true followers of the Lamb 
of God, which takes away the sins of the world by warning us of the 
approach of temptation, and abilitating us as we are obedient to His coun- 
sels to resist it and hence keep us from sin. And in proportion as we 
depart from the condition of true love and charity so do we impede and 
obstruct our own progress and sphere of usefulness in the world. 

It seems to me that man was designed in working out his own salvation 
from sin to be a help, an assistant and encourager to his fellows in attain- 
ing the same desired end, and where this design is carried out there we 
find such hearts cemented together in the indissoluble bond of Divine unsel- 
fish, unadulterated love, and each has confidence in the other, and is pre- 
pared to accept counsel, yea, even rebuke and reproof and become 
willing to profit by it. And though the reproof may be trying to human 
nature to bear, it being given under the pure spirit of love, it will be re- 
ceived in the same spirit because he to whom it is given will feel there 
must have been a sufficient cause or it would not have been given, and 
thus these will be mutually strengthened together. 

Hence I am brought to the conclusion that in order to reclaim an erring 
brother who has wandered from what appears to us to be right and bring 
him back, we must first gain his confidence, he must feel that love and love 
only is the motive from which we act. When this is secured he will listen 
to us and we may become an instrument of good to him, but if we ap- 
proach him with harsh and condemnatory language, claiming to be more 
holy and hence qualified to instruct or to rebuke, we arouse the selfish 
nature within him and he at once repels us, and happy will it be for us if 
he does not retaliate and retort and thus tempt us to reply until we too 
sink into an error as deep as his. 

When I have beheld this spirit within the borders of our own dearly loved 
Society my spirit has mourned, and as I have surveyed the devastation 
it is making and has made here, I have desired that we might individually 
know of returning to first principles, to the day of our first experience, 
when our hearts were tender, and we felt the inflowings of Divine love to 
pervade them and flow forth towards all the human family, and it seems 
to me that we can only so gain the confidence of our fellowmen by a close 
attention to the directions of the immediately revealed will of God and by 
walking before men in obedience thereto. Then as that pure principle 
of Divine goodness is manifested to men, for wholly unselfish ends so as 



106 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

we become likened unto its nature we act towards our fellowmen from 
the same unselfish motive and it will not be long before, the world will 
discover the principles from which we act and at least indirectly acknowl- 
edge our influence. 

I have not written the above views because I think I have fully attained 
or because I think them peculiarly applicable to thee, but as they were be- 
fore me since I took the pen, perhaps for the purpose that thou may see the 
tendency of the openings made upon my mind and the path that seems to 
be laid out for me to tread in if obedient and sufficiently humble. I feel 
no disposition to boast but to ascribe all I am of the Christian to the love 
and mercy of my Heavenly Father. 

From thy truly attached friend, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Fourth month 30, 1861. 
To C. E. L.: 

Dear Friend. — Under a feeling of my own inability in and of myself to 
write anything that shall instruct one whose heart has been touched by the 
day spring from on high, and thus permitted to have a glimpse of the 
brightness and beauty of Heaven's Almighty Sovereign, I have felt drawn 
to express what may open, as a reply to thy last deeply interesting letter. 

We as human beings often love to listen to words of burning eloquence 
as they fall from the lips of the gifted and talented, and when a more 
intimate acquaintance with these reveals a purity of life, a depth of devotion, 
they become entwined with our heart's best affections. So also when I find 
a young maid stepping out from the vanities and allurements which belong- 
to this lower world and openly acknowledging the teachings of the Eter- 
nal, the Infinite, as immediately revealed in the secret chambers of the 
heart when all is brought into a holy calm and quiet, not only by words but 
by those unselfish actions which show the interest it feels for the best good 
of all with whom it comes in contact, I am irresistibly led and drawn 
towards it and love to watch its unfoldings under the Divine hand, and as 
I have learned by my own experience in the early days of my espousal that 
kindred tie that binds those spirits who are endeavoring to faithfully 
fill their allotted place in the service of their God, even though there may 
be a wide difference in their experience and progress in a religious growth, 
often leads to the encouragement of each. The older and more experienced, 
in that they feel that when their days work is done the testimonies of 
truth have yet a resting place in the minds of the vigorous and active, and 
the younger and less experienced, in that though surrounded by trials and 
difficulties, yet as their elders, have passed through similar situations and 
witnessed the blessing of preservation, they too may indulge a hope of 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 107 

knowing the same fulfilled in their experience, so here we may see that 
we are fitted, when we keep our proper places, to be mutual helpers of 
each other, and instruments in provoking one another unto good works. 

The earnest breathing of my spirit for thee is, that as thou has now been 
made willing to give up to serve thy God in the morning of thy days, thou 
may continue to faithfully attend to the openings that are from time to time 
manifested to thee, and that thou watch carefully against the temptations to 
take thy flight as it were in the wintry season or on the Sabbath day, by 
which I would be understood to refer to the condition of the mind which 
is beautifully represented by the above figurative expression. 

Thou will find, in thy progression in the spiritual path, seasons wherein 
thy Heavenly Father will for a time veil His countenance from thee and 
thou wilt be left to thyself, a state to prove thy integrity and confidence in 
Him, and here thou will feel as though all thou had experienced had been 
of little avail, and doubts will arise in thy heart, and temptations will be 
presented to lure thee back into the enjoyments of earth for relief. This 
is truly a wintry season, one in that which, we most delight in, seems 
stripped and bare of all that can gladden, and as it were hidden under a 
cold mantle. Here then, dear friend, is a place in thy Heavenward journey 
where thou must set a double watch, for if thou give out here it will cost 
thee much suffering to return again. 

But if watchful here, thou will find in the Lord's own time He will come 
again with greater light than before, and thy heart will leap as it were for 
joy in that thou has again found the beloved in whom thy soul is well 
pleased, and in this season of abounding thou will feel that no cross will 
be too hard to bear, no sacrifice too great if thou can only continue to live 
in the enjoyment of His holy communion. 

Then will come a season, wherein after days of faithful labor, thou 
will be permitted to enjoy a time of rest and quiet. This thou will 
realize to be a true Sabbath day and herein lies a danger that we forget 
the kindness and mercy of our God in the past moments of trial, and as- 
cribe our present condition to our own attainments by our own unassisted 
powers, or we may think we have attained to a high standard or place in 
religious experience and indulge the thought that we are more holy than 
those who do not see as we do and hence lapse into a self-righteous state, 
a state when once settled in seems to be almost if not quite the hardest 
to reach or overcome of any in which the human mind is liable "to fall. 

Ah, dear one, may thou profit by these suggestions and set, as I before 
remarked, a double watch when these situations are experienced, for they 
will assuredly meet thee, and if thou can be preserved through them thy 
reward will be exceedingly great. 

I write not as having fully attained, but as one who has known of what 



108 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

he writes and who has felt the consequences of, thus taking flight, and as it 
is for the purpose of warning his fellows of the hidden rock on which his 
vessel was well-nigh wrecked that the mariner sets a light or buoy, so do I, 
dear friend, thus give thee a warning that thy bark may reach the desired 
port and haven of unalloyed, unending peace, thus pen what I have ex- 
perienced, not boastingly, but under an abiding sense of my unworthiness 
and that all I am and all I have that pertains to my spiritual well being 
is from the mercy and goodness of my God. 
My dear Judith joins me in much love, and I remain thy attached friend, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Fifth month 5, 1861. 
To M. D. : 

Much Esteemed Friend. — It is not for a want of continued interest for 
thee, or that I have not often mentally visited you in your own home, that 
I have so long delayed answering thy last very acceptable epistle but one 
thing after another has occasioned delay after delay until the present morn- 
ing. 

It is First day morning and a very clear, beautiful one, although here 
vegetation is backward, yet the serene, placid sky, the joyous caroling of the 
feathered songsters, shows that the summer is approaching and that the 
same beneficent parent still orders and directs His creation, and arranges 
all for the happiness of man were he disposed to live in obedience to His 
laws. 

As these reflections come to the mind how strong doth the contrast 
appear, when in mental vision we survey the enormous preparations that 
are being made to destroy the lives and property of our fellow-men in 
our own loved country. Verily the kind, the loving, feeling Christian heart 
almost sickens at the thought that with all our boasted advancement, 
with our missionaries in almost every clime teaching the contents of the 
Bible to the (so-called) benighted heathen, and yet we as a nation have 
yet to learn to fulfill the two great commandments, to first love the 
Lord with all thy mind, soul and strength, and then our neighbor as our- 
selves, for was this the experience of all who professed to be Christian it 
does appear to me that none of these would be found in warlike array. 
And yet when we remember that the great mass of professors do not fully 
recognize that the immediate inspiration and revealing power of God ex- 
ists in the present day, and hence voluntarily close the door through 
which they might become acquainted with Him, so as to feel His love in 
truth, for it appears to me that we cannot truly love a being we do not 
know by an intimate personal acquaintance, although we may be pre- 



i Letters from 1858 to 186 1 109 

possessed towards Him by the testimony of those who have experimentally 
known Him, and thus be the better prepared to allow our hearts to flow 
out in love when brought into a nearer acquaintance before we can be- 
stow our affection understandingly. When I take this view of the subject 
it does not seem so strange to me that while mankind is willing to 
be taught by learned men, who in turn teach that the Great Allwise 
Jehovah is a being of like passions with man, that He is capable of 
being angry and that He must be appeased, that He controls and directs 
the movements of one of the contending armies, that it is by His direction 
that human beings are slaughtered by thousands and their souls, while 
filled with passion and desire for revenge, are thus sent before Him for 
judgment, but oh, when the heart has, by an obedience to the inshining of 
the light of truth, known of an advancement, as it were, step by step in 
the knowledge of Heaven's Eternal King and His attributes, when it has 
found that everything within it which is opposed to the pure principle 
of love, when it comes through an obedience to this divine principle to 
love its enemies, to do good to those that hate it, to pray for those who 
despitefully use and persecute it, when it finds that every motive like a 
retaliation brings a cloud between it and the sun of righteousness, how 
such a mind sorrows when placed amid scenes of mortal conflict, when 
each day's reports bring tidings of still more extensive preparations for war 
or that more souls have been hurried to eternity unprepared to enjoy its 
blissful abodes. 

I look forward to our annual gathering as a season of deep exercise, 
and if my feelings do not deceive me the dedicated faithful servants will 
have to wade through deep suffering on account of the lack of faithfulness 
on the part of our members in keeping clear of the entangling alliances 
with those professors who are relying on external means, expecting 
thereby to witness salvation. 

It is with a thankful heart that, while I survey the conflicts going on 
around me, I can feel that neither my voice or my hand has contributed 
to bring about this state of things, and if it be my lot to go down into 
suffering with the suffering and be baptized into feeling with those who 
are in trouble and sorrow of heart, or to be stripped of worldy pos- 
sessions on account of my testimony for peace and love, I have an unshaken 
confidence that my God will not require of me more than I shall be 
abilitated to perform or undergo, and thus I will endeavor to abide in 
patience whatever bonds and afflictions await me. 

I am affectionately thy attached friend, 

John J. Cornell. 



no Autobiography op* John J. Cornell 

Mendon, Fifth month 10, 1861. 
To G. & E. H. : 

Beloved Cousins. — My mind has so often been turned towards you dur- 
ing the past few days, and being driven from my farm work by the rain 
I thought I would employ the time in addressing you through the medium 
of the pen, and thereby acknowledge the reception of your acceptable 
epistle conveying to us that, though you had been rather dilatory in 
keeping up your share of our correspondence, you still held us in remem- 
brance and near affection. 

When distance divides those whose hearts are bound together with the 
chain of true affection a frequent interchange of thought and feeling 
serves to keep that chain bright and strong, but if no manifested love 
wings its flight to those absent ones, its links, as it were, will rust and 
grow weaker. 

It may not be inaptly remarked that our thoughts are often shaped from 
the events which are passing around us and the position and frame of 
mind in which we view them, or at least that must be a strange tem- 
perament which can view a land in commotion and not bestow a thought 
thereon. And amid the excitement that now overspreads our country 
while the tocsin of war is sounding and contending armies are gathering 
and preparing for a deadly conflict, I view the scene in mental vision 
with deep, heartfelt sorrow. When I read the exciting, thrilling call 
to arms from political editors I do not wonder, but when I find men 
who are standing high among their fellows as professed ministers of the 
gospel of Christ, delivering discourses encouraging their congregations 
to buckle on the armor, shoulder the death-dealing gun, to unsheath the 
sword and go forth to destroy the lives of those even with whom they 
are making a common profession of serving the same God, my heart is 
filled with sorrow at their blindness and the blindness of the people, and I 
feel to present to you for your candid consideration some views on this 
subject and which seem to me to be more consistent with the mission of 
Jesus. 

We are professing to be Christians. This nation is called a Christian 
nation. Now the first consideration for us is, What is a Christian? To 
which the general answer would be, a follower of Christ. A follower of 
Christ in what? Why, to my mind, as I understand the obligations resting 
upon me in that direction, I am to follow Him in that course of life by 
which He was preserved from the commission of sin ; and this, I find, 
according to my apprehension, consisted in obeying, carrying out and 
fulfilling the law and directions of His Father in all tilings and under all 
circumstances. 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 in 

Well then, if this view be correct, let ns trace, as He laid down in His 
daily walk and in the precepts which are recorded as having been delivered 
by Him, and see if in the whole that has come down to us if there be a 
single sentence or a single action from which we may draw the con- 
clusion that it would be right under any situation or provocation for one 
who is really a Christian to take the life of another fellow-man. It was 
a precept given by Him in the Sermon on the Mount, referring to the 
Mosaic command, " Ye have heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth 
for a tooth, but I say unto you resist not evil, but overcome evil with 
good. Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you, bless them 
that curse you and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute 
you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven." 
Then mark still further how He bears His testimony against everything 
like retaliation, when He says : " If thine enemy smite thee on the 
one cheek turn to him the other also, if he sue thee at the law and take 
away thy coat give him thy cloak also." And still farther, " When thou 
bringest thy gift to the altar," or as I understand it, when thou comest 
into the presence of God to worship Him, and thou rememberest that thy 
brother has aught against thee, leave there thy gift, first go and be recon- 
ciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. 

We see here that no worship from us will be acceptable in the divine 
sight while we cherish the least feeling of bitterness against a brother 
or a sister, and then still further, " If ye love them that love you what re- 
ward have ye, do not publicans and sinners the same? How then- can a 
man love God whom he hath not seen if he love not his brother whom 
he hath seen," and then when pronouncing His blessings He says, Blessed 
are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. Thus 
we see when we come to carry out these sublime precepts there is no 
room for anything but love to all, not only to our friends but to our 
enemies. Then let us follow Him to the close of His life and we find 
that He fully carried out all that He had laid down. See how beautifully 
He exemplified them when the emissaries of the chief priests came to take 
Him in that hour when He knew He was betrayed and that He would 
be put to death. When Peter, in his love for Him and in the promptings 
of his animal nature, drew his sword and smote off the ear of the servant 
of the high priest, mark the rebuke : " Put up thy sword for they that 
take the sword shall perish by the sword," and then reached forth His 
hand and healed the ear of him who had been smitten. Then let us 
follow Him before Pilate where, when falsely accused, making no de- 
fence, returning no railing, but as a lamb led to the slaughter, or as a 
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so opened He not His mouth," and 
when about to be crucified, when He bore testimony that His Father 



H2 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

could furnish Him twelve legions of angels if needful to rescue Him, 
but no ; His work was done, He was at peace with God. He had no fear 
of death and therefore in the fullness of that love which filled His heart 
He could utter that sublime petition, " Father, forgive them ; they know 
not what they do." 

Oh, beloved cousins, when we thus contemplate the precepts of that 
Holy One and trace them as carried out in His example, where can we 
find any excuse to harm or injure a fellow-being? How, oh how can a 
professed minister of the gospel call upon his flock to go forth to slay 
and kill? Can these be the true ministers of the sanctuary? Can these 
be they who, when done with time, will join that innumerable company 
who have washed and made white their robes in the blood of the Lamb? 

Let us look at another scene. Here in our own country Northern and 
Southern brethren meet on the battlefield, each army has its chaplain, a 
professed minister of the gospel of Christ which breathes that glorious 
anthem, " On earth peace and good will to men," and let us in imagination 
listen to the prayers that ascend a few brief moments before they are 
engaged in the deadly strife, and we hear each praying to the same God 
that success may crown the efforts of each army, that the victory may 
be theirs, which means that their side shall kill or wound the most. Can 
these be the followers of that meek and lowly Lamb of God I have above 
described ? I unhesitatingly say no, for I firmly believe that God never 
did nor ever will order and direct that human beings should thus slay 
and butcher each other. I know there are many who think that God 
sends wars to punish mankind for their sins, but I do not so view the attri- 
butes of Deity. For as I do not find any law of God but that if obeyed 
would lead to happiness and peace, but man being a free agent and endowed 
with the power of choice between obeying the laws of God and thereby 
embracing good, and living in obedience to the dictates of his selfish 
nature and thus producing evil, so as nations instead of living in obe- 
dience to those beautiful and happifying laws of God, choose to live in 
accordance with the promptings of their animal natures bring about 
evil, and hence wars ensue to settle difficulties or to conquer the weaker. 
Mark the workings of the animal nature as exemplified in the brute crea- 
tion, as well as in our own individual experience, and we see that this 
spirit of the stronger to rule over the weak and to retaliate for real or 
supposed injuries, and then trace the workings of that silent yet powerful 
monitor within us, and do we not find that its laws given, its efforts made 
are to redeem us from this warring state and instead of retaliation, enab- 
ling us to forgive instead of conquering by force, requiring us to love our 
neighbors as ourselves? Then if this be our experience as individuals, 
would not the same God who thus leads individuals, lead nations if all 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 113 

were obedient in the same path? Hence I draw my deduction that God 
does not now sanction war, nor even the taking of life in self-defense, and 
if not now, as He is unchangeably the same yesterday, today and for- 
ever, so I am brought to the conclusion that He never did sanction the 
taking of human life, even in self-defense. I may differ in this thought 
from mankind in general, yet when we reflect that in order to be a 
Christian that nothing but love can pervade our hearts, and when we 
thus know that we are at peace with God it follows as a natural conse- 
quence that death has no terrors for us, and when we know that a man 
who would, while we were in this state, having nothing in our hearts but 
love for the human family, take our lives, must be wholly unprepared to die, 
let me candidly query, would life be so dear to us that we would be willing 
to enjoy it at the expense of the consciousness that our hands had been 
bathed in our brother's blood and that we had sent him unprepared before 
the tribunal of a just God and doomed him to an eternity of misery and 
woe. 

I had no idea, dear cousins, of taking up this subject at so great a 
length when I commenced writing, but something seemed to impress me 
that it would be right and I have endeavored to follow the opening, trust- 
ing that if you are not prepared to adopt the sentiments herein contained 
they will at least furnish you food for reflection that may lead you to 
trace the workings of the Infinite Spirit upon the mind of one so unworthy 
as myself. 

In much love, I remain affectionately your attached cousin, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon, Tenth month 6, 186 1. 
John Watson : 

Beloved Friend. — I find that weeks have glided away until months have 
gone since last we met in the body, but often, very often has the mind of 
thy young friend recalled thy countenance and as often mingled with thee 
in spirit, and now, as it is First-day afternoon, and though I have been 
engaged in finishing copying the epistles for Philadelphia and New York, 
yet I thought I would not lay aside my writing materials until I had given 
thee some evidence that the bond of union, which has heretofore bound 
us in sweet fellowship, remains unbroken on my part. 

Oh, dear friend, my spirit is often humbled in thankfulness unto our 
God for His goodness to me in that He has permitted me to number so 
many of His dependent children among my most precious friends, and my 
secret cry very often is, may I continue to walk worthy of their confi- 
dence and esteem, which I know can only be done by a faithful abiding 
at the feet of the Divine Master and being obedient to His commands. 
8 



ii4 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Last week was our Quarterly Meeting at this place and a precious season 
it proved to be to me, and I trust to many others, for my lot had been 
for some days previous to be remanded to the stripping room, and I went 
to meeting feeling very poor and low in spirit, but as I endeavored to be 
faithful to the openings made and to the ability afforded, I came away 
rejoicing. Blessed, forever blessed be the name of Israel's unslumbering 
Shepherd. 

My dear wife accompanied me to Yarmouth in the Eighth month to at- 
tend the Half Yearly Meeting and visit our friends thereaway, and the 
Master was not wanting to qualify for the service required, and I believe 
that meeting will be long remembered by many who were present. It 
has seldom been my lot to witness a season when so many were tendered 
even to tears, and I believe some hearts who had until then stood out 
and kept out the beloved of souls until " His head was wet with the dew 
and His locks as with the drops of the night," were made willing to open 
the door and receive Him in the simple way of His coming. 

I perceive that thy dear son, of whom thou spoke at our late Yearly 
Meeting, has passed away, leaving no doubt a deep void in your hearts, 
but I trust you have the evidence that all is well with him. 

Our family circle remains as when I saw thee and we have been per- 
mitted to enjoy our usual health, which I believe is the case with most 
hereaway, though death has claimed some, and among these was the only 
son of Joseph and Jane Baker. Thus is life interspersed with rejoicing 
and sorrow, and happy is he indeed who recognizes through all the hand of 
the omnipotent and is prepared in hours of joy to give Him thanks and 
in hours of sorrow to acknowledge that He doeth all things well. 

As I view the commotions which are agitating my country, while I re- 
member that my countrymen who should be striving with each other to 
promote her best and highest interest, are arrayed in dark, dread hos- 
tility to each other, how my spirit mourns, and how I do long that men 
might be willing to come under the guidance of the Prince of Peace 
that they might hearken to the monitions of the still small voice and be- 
come obedient to its promptings and thus be enabled to overcome the 
monster self. How soon, were this the case, would we behold a different 
state of things. But as He who created all things and overrules all can 
stay the wrath of man and turn what he intends for evil into good, so 
I feel to leave all in His hands and strive to perform my allotted duty, 
trusting that all will work together in the end for good to those whose 
desires are to serve the Lord. 

In much love, I remain thy much attached young friend, 

John J. Cornell. 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 115 

Mendon, Tenth month 31, 1861. 
To I. B. W. : 

Beloved Friend. — My mind this afternoon has been much with thee 
and in accordance with the impressions made thereon I have under- 
taken to convey through this medium such feelings and views as may 
arise. 

I think I am warranted in saying that there is a cord which binds our 
spirits in nearness of feeling, which emanates from that invisible yet illim- 
itable source of all good, and I trust thou will readily believe that it is 
from and under the exercise of that feeling that I now write thee. 

We are standing before our fellows with deep and high responsibilities 
resting upon us, and although there is in reality no more necessity for us 
to keep our eyes single to the pointings of Divine Wisdom than for others, 
yet the consequences resulting from balking our profession, from appear- 
ing to be one thing in the gallery and another when occupied in the con- 
cerns which belong to this life in temporal things, has a wider influence 
and is more pregnant with evil to others and proves a greater stumbling 
block in the way of the honest yet unsettled enquirer and fills the minds 
of those who love us with a deeper sorrow, and hence it appears to me 
to be very necessary that we set a double guard at every avenue in 
which the enemy of our souls (that is, our own self-will) may approach 
remembering the injunction of Him whose example we are professing to 
follow : " If any man will be my disciple let him first deny himself, take 
up his daily cross and follow me." Oh, how hard this denying self. This 
brings to mind the parting admonition of that dear old servant of the 
Most High, Elizabeth Leedom, when she was last in this place. After a 
favored meeting, in which our testimonies had mingled and blended in 
sweet harmony, she said " Remember, John, the enemy is not dead yet." 
How true, though overcome at one point, he quickly makes his appearance 
at another, and how often it becomes necessary to scrutinize closely or 
to turn the fleece more than once lest his appearance, clothed as an angel 
of light, deceive us. 

How often do we cling to some cherished hope or plan and seek to 
make a course of conduct appear to be right? How often does it recur 
to the mind that what we desire is lawful and that man will justify us 
in its performance, but when we scan the motive closely it will not bear 
the test of divine unselfish love. There is something of our own plan- 
ning or of our own willing lurking within, and if so the future will be 
shrouded in darkness and dismay. 

But when the heart recoils from the commission of that which, though 
appearing to bring with it a seeming outward gain, and throws itself 
unreservedly, as it were, into the arms of an omnipotent God, whose 



n6 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

spirit by the revelation of its light upon the understanding has shown us 
what we must surrender, I have full confidence that He who was never 
foiled in battle, whose arm is ever bared for the protection of His truly 
dependent children, will open a way even when our poor visions cannot 
discover any possible way, and if we are faithful to move only at His 
command we shall have cause to sing His praise as on the banks of 
deliverance. 

How deeply interesting is that account of the children of Israel, when 
camped by the Red Sea, with mountains on either side and a relentless 
enemy pursuing them from behind. Behold their tribulation and the fear 
that would naturally arise that all was lost and that they must be utterly 
destroyed. If the present impression of my mind does not deceive me, 
thou at this time can fully understand this condition, and that there 
appears but little if any way for thee to move, and the conflicts of mind 
thou hast undergone and art undergoing are deeply distressing. And the 
language to thee is, " Be still and see the salvation of God." In the hour 
of mortal conflict resist the temptation of the enemy that is assailing thee, 
give all up to the care and direction of Him who sees not as man sees and 
when He shall be pleased to open the path for thy feet move bravely for- 
ward, heed not the whisperings of self within, nor trust the advice of those 
without, though it may cost thee all outward possessions, though it may 
seem that thy outward enemies may gain a temporary advantage, but move 
bravely forward, trust implicitly in that guide whom thou hast known 
in days past to lead thee out of the mire of despair, and plant thy feet 
upon that sure foundation wherein thou hast found safety. I do not 
know why my mind should be so impressed, yet so vividly do I feel, 
so clearly do I see the agitations which are troubling thy mind, though I 
know not their nature, that I felt my peace consisted in sounding the 
warning to heed the monitions of the swift witness for truth, to let thine 
eye be kept wholly and singly to the shining of that light which is even 
now glimmering as in the distance. Eye it steadily and it will approach 
nearer and nearer unto thee and when it shows thee the path before thee 
advance therein, leave all doubtings behind thee, and it will lead thee 
out of the wilderness that now surrounds thee and bring thee to the 
glorious mansions of peace, and abilitate thee to exclaim in truth " Great 
and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are all 
Thy ways, Thou King of Saints." 

Oh, lose not this high behest, this glorious prize for a seeming temporal 
advantage, although it may seem to be easily obtained, for if it cost thee 
such a loss of what benefit will it be to thee? Where will be the en- 
joyment if the consciousness of disobedience and a turning away from 
clear convictions of right are continually arising to annoy? 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 117 

But if thou follow this sure guide it will not only enable thee to par- 
take of those great privileges of which I have written, but will abilitate 
thee to meekly bear the railings of thy accusers, and return good to them 
that hate thee, to bless them that curse thee. 

It is the deep and earnest breathing of my spirit that this may be 
fully realized by thee, for I feel that the Lord hath need of thee and that 
thy present deep trials may yet prove great blessings. Let us then 
humbly and meekly seek to know His will and His alone, that we may 
be preserved through every earthly trial in an unwavering implicit trust 
and confidence in Him who doeth all things well, and that when we 
shall be called away from these scenes to the dark confines of the tomb 
our spirits may be fully prepared to join the angelic hosts who are 
eternally singing hosannas to our God. 

In much love to thee, I remain thy fellow traveler and, I trust fellow 
laborer, in the service of our Lord, 

John J. Cornell. 

Note. — It will be proper to here state that, by a letter received from the 
person above addressed in a few days after it was written, I was informed 
that I was correct in my feelings regarding her situation, and that my 
missive had greatly encouraged her. 

Mendon, Eleventh month 2, 1861. 
To Isaac Brown : 

Esteemed Friend. — Such has been the nearness of feeling going out to 
thee, so strongly have my sympathies been drawn out towards thee that 
thou art often brought before me in my moments of calm mediation, 
when my mind seems encompassed by the matchless love of Divine Good- 
ness, and as the inclemency of the weather precludes my laboring out of 
doors I thought I might profitably employ my time in penning some of my 
feelings and reflections for thy perusal, believing if it shall serve no other 
purpose it will at least tend to strengthen the chord of affection under 
which our spirits have been drawn towards each other. 

When we gather into that solemn profound silence of mind wherein 
the things and cares of earth, with their anxieties and perplexities, are 
brought into subjection and kept as under the feet, and the soul then 
drinks in from the outflowings of the fountain of immaculate and pure 
divine wisdom, receiving therefrom a renewed vitality and new accessions 
of the knowledge of those bright realities of the Kingdom of Heaven 
which are mysterious to the natural understanding of man, of how little 
account do the acquirements of the human intellect appear? It is only 



n8 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

while thus gathered that we fully understand the riches of the love of our 
God, its universality and its adaptation to the wants and capacities of the 
souls of men under whatever circumstances they may be placed. And 
as we thus learn the depth of its riches we realize which of the three 
heavenly virtues — Faith, Hope and Charity — or Love, that charity is 
the greatest. Faith and Hope are in comparison selfish virtues because 
they belong wholly to ourselves ; we can divide them with no one, we can- 
not partake of them with another. The faith we have is derived from the 
evidences unfolded to us, and though we may attempt to describe the 
means and methods whereby we have arrived at our faith, the evidence 
which is able to convince another so that they may arrive at the same con- 
clusion, can only be furnished by the same power and through the 
same channel by which we received it. Then too, as hope is and can 
only be ours in accordance with the faith we have and hold, so it must be 
evident that none can partake of this same hope until he be possessed of the 
same faith. But when our faith becomes firmly grounded in the immedi- 
ately revealed will of God through the Christ within the heart, and we 
thereby have a hope that we may become the sons of God by adoption, 
heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, which state is only attain- 
able through our humble, passive obedience to the requisitions of the Di- 
vine will as thus immeditely revealed. Then we know our selfishness or 
the selfishness of our nature subdued, and in its stead more of that pure, 
high, and holy principle, Charity, or the Love or God, which is wholly un- 
selfish, fills the heart and radiates from us towards all those with whom 
we are brought into contact, and over whom we exert an influence. This 
is the high prerogative of a true son of God, and is the mark for which 
all should aim, but more especially should it become the clothing of those, 
who like ourselves at times, stand as mouth for the Lord to the people 
and as instruments in His holy hand. 

I trust that in thy experience thou hast been brought to see that God in 
His nature and vital essence is wholly replete and complete without man, 
that it does not add to Him or His enjoyment if man always obeys His 
commands, neither does it detract from Him or His enjoyment if man is 
disobedient and rejects His counsels. Hence in all His dealings with man, 
in all the laws established for his government, in all the penalties insti- 
tuted for the transgression of those laws it is the welfare of man and his 
best and highest interests He has in view, and man alone receives the benefit 
of his obedience to those counsels and those laws by which his spirit be- 
comes more and more fitted to enjoy the communion with his Creator, 
becomes more and more likened unto Him, approaches nearer and nearer 
to that state of perfect worship wherein all the evil propensities of his 
nature become subjected to the guidance of those pure childlike, innocent 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 119 

principles, which, as it is suffered to rule, becomes to us the Wonder- 
ful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of 
Peace, and herein man acts towards his fellow man in and under that 
highest virtue, Charity, in that he fulfills the command as laid down by the 
Blessed Jesus, " Love thy neighbor as thyself." 

Oh high attainment and yet within our reach, and it is the earnest 
desire of the writer for himself and for all his fellow men that it may be 
our happy experience. 

When we reach this state of attainment we have arrived at that millen- 
nial condition so beautifully described by the prophet — wherein " The lion 
shall lie down with the lamb," etc., and how clear is the conclusion that if 
every mind was earnestly striving to arrive at this condition there would 
be no room for strife nor contention, and hence as the spirit that leads to 
war and fighting would be checked at the root, so would they cease from 
among the nations of the earth. 

Believe me, dear friend, this is no studied effort under which I have a 
desire to teach or instruct thee, but I have simply penned that which 
has arisen since I commenced, for I knew not the direction I should be 
led when I took the pen, and some of the expressions used I do not re- 
member as ever having occurred to me before. I sometimes think when 
the mind is properly qualified an interchange of views in this manner 
between those who feel their spirits cemented together in the Savior's 
love may be useful to encourage and to provoke one another unto good 
works. 

There are many seasons of proving and stripping experienced in the pro- 
bationary journey of those who are endeavoring to follow the leadings of 
the Divine Master, and especially those who are called to publicly labor 
in His cause. And I feel to say to thee hold fast thy faith without 
wavering, continue in seasons of deep poverty wherein the Lord seems to 
have withdrawn the light of His countenance for a season, to keep the eye 
steadfastly fixed on the attainment of that high standing of a pillar in the 
Church of Christ that shall no more go out, and in due season the light 
will again break forth refreshing and reviving thy spirit. And again when 
in seasons of great abounding, wherein thou may be permitted, as it were, 
to ride the King's horse, beware of being elated, but return like humble 
Mordecai to the King's gate, to the Master's feet — satisfied with the re- 
ward of peace, with the language " I have done what thou gavest me to do. 
What more hast thou for me, for the crown is Thine." The power and 
ability is from Thee, and unless Thou command, open the way and afford 
the ability to labor, all my efforts are in vain. 



120 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

And now, dear friend, in that love which reaches unto all and which 
binds and cements into a true unity of feeling, I bid thee affectionately 
farewell, and remain thy truly attached friend. 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon Center, Eleventh month 23, 1861. 
To L. B. : 

Esteemed Friend. — Thy sweetly affectionate epistle of the Thirteenth of 
last month was duly received, warmly welcomed, and truly appreciated, for 
I regard these missives, when emanating from hearts in which dwell those 
desires whose teachings have in view the highest and best interests of 
mankind, as contributing to brighten the chain of affection and strengthen- 
ing the bonds of union which bind kindred spirits. I have apprehended 
under this feeling that I might safely commence a reply and in that ability 
which may be afforded me, while I proceed I hope to write so as it may 
prove interesting to thee, though I do not feel that mine is the experience 
of the mature man, but on the contrary I am still in the youthful state, 
if indeed I have advanced much beyond that of the lisping babe. So I 
would not have thee place an overestimate upon my views and opinions 
nor accept anything as truth because my pen has traced it, but only receive 
it as such when it meets the leadings of that witness in thy own heart 
whom no sophistry can remove, or no efforts of our own can thwart. 

In regard to the query, " What are the avails of prayer one for another or 
in temporal matters for ourselves ? " Perhaps the first important considera- 
tion is, to come to a correct and true understanding of what prayer 
that is availing consists. Now, according to my understanding, true avail- 
ing prayer is the desire of the heart, for what it really and truly stands 
in need of, for itself and for others, for what they also are in need, and 
which they have not of themselves, neither can it be obtained without the 
intervention and assistance of that Being who is everywhere present, know- 
ing all things and possessing all things. 

Hence if this be a correct definition of true availing prayer, he or she who 
is engaged to offer it must have a confidence in God, a firmly established 
belief that He is able to grant what is asked for ; but then there arises this 
query, "If we are to pray for. that we have not, neither can have except 
through the interposition of our Heavenly Father, how do we know what 
to ask for and how to ask for it ? " As this view revolves in the mind and 
we become conscious of our inability to peer into the future or to fathom 
the results of the present, so as to really and truly understand what we 
stand in need of that will best promote our happiness, or enable us to walk 
in the path designed for us by Illimitable Wisdom, we are brought to the 



Letters from 1858 to 186 1 121 

conclusion that none but an omniscient and omnipresent power can know 
what we stand in need of, and what we should ask for. And so only that 
power can acquaint us with the needs and instruct us what to pray 
for for others. But if we consider our own experience and what has passed 
and is passing before our observation, I think we will find that in this as in 
most other matters pertaining to religion and religious affairs and ceremo- 
nies, man is wont to move in his own strength and ask for that in his short- 
sighted vision he thinks he really needs, when often, if the petition was 
granted, it might prove a deep affliction. Therefore, it becomes a nice point, 
to judge between the promptings of our own desires and the openings of 
Divine Wisdom, and this distinction can only be clearly made by retiring 
into a state of quietness in which all anxiety is laid aside either for our- 
selves or others, and we may then lean in confidence on the arm of our 
God with that true state of resignation in which we are prepared to adopt 
the language, " Not my will but Thine, O God, be done." And here we have 
arrived at that teachable state in which if there be anything necessary for 
us to pray for it will be unfolded to us and we instructed how to pray. 

But this brings us to the consideration of some doubts which appear to 
have arisen in thy mind as they have also arisen in others. If God alone 
knows what we stand in need of, and He alone can assist and aid us in 
asking for that need and He alone can answer our petitions, what need is 
there for man to pray? 

This appears to me to be one of the means adopted in the wisdom and 
goodness of God to keep man in that dependent, childlike state, wherein 
he can be led by an obedience to the instructions of Divine Wisdom from 
his state of innocency in which he is ushered into the world to the over- 
coming of temptation, whereby he attains to that state of virtue wherein 
he is fitted to enjoy uninterrupted bliss in that eternity which is his allot- 
ment when done with time. 

In relation to temporal as well as spiritual matters the Almighty has 
established general laws, which if disregarded or wilfully disobeyed, pro- 
duce suffering as a penalty, and no amount of prayer will avail to screen us 
therefrom ; nor do I believe that if we gather into that condition in which 
as I have stated He will unfold unto us what to pray for we will find any 
necessity to pray either for ourselves or for others ; although we as 
creatures prompted by desires to have all our wishes gratified, or in our 
affectionate feelings as creatures may desire that others may be relieved. 
We may be prostrated by physical suffering and may desire in the movings 
of our nature to be relieved, but that would by no means be the warrant 
to offer a petition to Jehovah for relief, yet the time may come when this 
affliction may have performed its errand — that we may be rightly author- 
ized to pray for relief. It may be we have not fully confided in the power 



122 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

of the Most High and this has been the means adopted by Him to bring 
us to a sense of our dependence. Then when the way is opened we feel 
clearly the need and necessity to ask for relief, if yielded to we shall be 
relieved, and thus our prayer will prove availing, but if we do not yield 
we cannot have any confidence that the desired relief will be obtained, 
and this course of reasoning will be also applicable in regard to the 
prayers we may offer for others. 

Hence I am brought to the conclusion that prayer can only be availing 
when it is offered under the instruction and direction of Divine Wisdom, 
and when so offered is always availing, for I cannot conceive it to be pos- 
sible that God would require men to ask of Him anything but that which 
they really needed, and if He required man to ask for it, that He would 
then deny giving it, for that would be wholly incompatible with what I 
understand to be His nature and attributes. 

This brings me to the subject to which thou hast alluded, and which I 
will briefly advert to. That is in relation to the decrees of Providence. 
I am aware that we gather the impression from some source that the de- 
crees of the Almighty are irrevocable, and this I think arises in part from 
not fully understanding them. While there are some that are irrevocable, 
others and those most intimately connected with our best good, are condi- 
tional. As, for example, the soul that sins it shall die. Thus far this is 
irrevocable and will always be carried out, but this death is not one of 
annihilation, but only of alienation and separation from that communion 
with God whereby it may enjoy true peace, but when after suffering the 
pains of this death it repents, the decree here ends and the soul is again 
brought into life and experiences a resurrection. 

Thou can make thy own application from these few hints regarding 
the subject under consideration. 

I have thus written out these views as they have presented themselves 
while I was writing. There may be some inelegancies of expression 
which I desire thou may not too closely criticise. 

We too are looking forward toward the approaching Yearly Meeting to 
he held in Pickering, and if agreeable to you, and we are permitted to 
come, will again be glad to find a home under your hospitable roof. And 
now, dear friend, in conclusion, I feel to remark that I would that thou 
be not discouraged if in the revolvings of thought when subjects are 
brought before thee and many doubts arise and for a time thy mind may 
seem as it was wrapped in a labyrinth of confusion. When these seasons are 
thy experience, cover thy face as it were, with a mantle, or shut out all 
these perplexing presentations and retire into the calm stillness as of the 
cave, and after these convictions have passed by the still small voice will be 
heard in thy inner consciousness, and it will scatter these doubts and open 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 123 

to thy understanding the depths of the riches of the Kingdom of God and 
thus will thou be prepared for the work that lies before thee, which thy 
Heavenly Father has for thee to do. 

I remain thy attached friend, 

John J. Cornell. 

Mendon Center, Second month 8, 1862. 
To H. D. : 

Esteemed Friend. — Thine of the Second inst. was duly received and read 
with much interest, and I feel that it may be right for me to thus early 
respond thereto. Though feeling that my experience and situation thus 
far in life have not qualified me to rightly judge what may be the best 
course to adopt under such circumstances as thine, and therefore while I 
may in the course of this writing offer some suggestions they will only 
be those which appear to me to be the right application of general 
principles. 

I am far from believing it to be necessarily essential for the salvation 
of the immortal soul that we must be in connection with some organized 
religious association, and hence amid the difficulties which surround thee 
in that respect, I would not counsel that it would be best, for, except 
thou clearly saw that it was necessary to thy peace of mind, that through 
a clear conviction of duty in that respect in such a case it could in my 
view be clearly and unequivocally essential that thou would yield. I can 
fully agree with thee as regards the care necessary to be observed that 
we take not the vagaries of our own imagination for the revelation of 
the Divine Word, and I know that it is often a nice point to distinguish 
which is the true and which the false, and I am also sensible that it is 
very difficult to convey by human language the modus operandi by which 
we come to the conclusion which is the true or which the false, and yet 
it seems right for me to express to thee in as clear a manner as I am 
capable of, how I form my conclusions. 

When a subject is presented to my mental vision and appears to be ac- 
companied with a sense that there is something for me to do in relation 
thereto, if after endeavoring to reason it away, or by seeking to bring the 
mind to reflect upon other subjects and I succeed in erasing the impres- 
sions I then feel that it proceeded from my own imagination ; but, if, 
notwithstanding all my efforts to throw it off the impression still is vivid 
and clear, I always find it the safest and best to attend to it, and though 
in so doing it seemed to me as though I was leaping into an abyss whose 
bottom I could not see, I have ever found that my peace or reward was 
after a time furnished in many cases with the outward evidence of the 
correctness of the impression. 



124 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

With regard to thy situation with your children I feel it to be a subject 
requiring great care and caution before moving, and one in which thy 
mind should become firmly established beyond the shadow of a doubt, 
before taking the step to which thou alludes, not that I have any doubts 
but what those who are concerned to faithfully fill all their obligations as 
far as they see will be accepted, no matter under what forms they may 
offer their oblations, but because it seems to me that a mind that is 
bound by externals, that looks to man as a dispenser of spiritual knowl- 
edge, must become at least somewhat dwarfed in its growth, and come 
short of that blessed experience which is realized in that sweet commu- 
nion of the spirit with its author. 

Would it not then be better that thou should suffer them to go with 
their mother to her meeting, and when thou hast opportunity to take 
them with thee when thou art able to mingle with those, with whose views 
thou art in accord, being careful in your religious teachings to inculcate 
general principles such as will occasion no jar, will bring out no con- 
flicting views before them, ever cultivating a true charitable feeling for 
each other's view. I. think }-ou can agree first in seeking to indoctrinate 
their minds with a love and reverence for their Creator, to teach them 
to do right from the love of right and because of the happiness such a 
course will bring, to act unselfishly towards each other, and their fellows 
with whom they may mingle, and when these principles are firmly estab- 
lished in their minds and from them springs their religious actions, I 
think it will make but little difference in the end whether they worship 
according to the liturgy of the church or in the silence of a Friends' 
meeting. With these principles firmly established I think you need not 
fear to suffer them to choose their own path when they have attained to 
a sufficient age to make a choice. 

But I am aware that these principles are more easily inculcated by ex- 
ample than by precept, and also I believe that, however strict parents may 
be in their religious devotions to the principles above alluded to, if such 
are not manifested in their every day life before their children, that precepts 
however good in themselves will have but little effect — yet, dear friend, I 
would not deter thee by the presentation of these views from following 
out that course which is clearly indicated to thee will be right; nor do 
I ask any to be guided by anything which may drop from my lips or pen 
unless it corresponds with the evidence placed within themselves that 
they are true. 

I come now to the consideration of the last subject named by thee, 
which is in relation to war and how far a man may be justified in claim- 
ing protection from a government he is unwilling to sustain by the use 
of the sword. In the first place thou readily admits the correctness of 



Letters from 1858 to 1861 125 

the principle as advanced by me in that address, but thy difficulty seems 
to lie in reducing or bringing that principle into practice. I know that 
all outward governments that have yet existed, save that established by 
William Penn, and maintained for seventy years by Friends in Pennsyl- 
vania, have been founded on and sustained by the arbitrament of the 
sword, but I cannot see as that b} 7 any means holds that such a course is 
necessary, but on the contrary I am fully persuaded were the so-called 
Christian nations to carry out in full that which we understand their 
profession requires — that wars would be done away with. And to bring 
the matter still closer, I also believe that such is the mighty influence 
which is swayed by those men called ministers of the Gospel of Christ, did 
they unitedly hold forth the principles of peace and resolutely turn their 
faces against countenancing war it would soon be banished from the earth. 
But as regards civil government I have no idea but that man constituted 
as he is will require the authority of some form of civil government to 
restrain and to restore, but I very much question whether the present 
form of government is calculated to restrain from the commission of 
crime or to better the conditions of the human race, indeed, I sometimes 
think it would be better if we had no criminal jurisprudence than to 
continue the form we have. 

If my observation be correct the feelings which seem to actuate those 
having authority, as well as those delegating authority to punish for the 
commission of crime, are those of retaliation instead of reclamation, and 
I believe it is generally acknowledged that a term served in our penal 
institutions fits for the commission of deeper crimes and unfits one to be- 
come a useful member of society, while it appears clear to me that the Chris- 
tian era requires a different treatment and would be productive of far better 
results, but I am aware that reforms of this magnitude are of slow 
growth, that they must be commenced and maintained by individual 
effort and that too, amid much opposition and ridicule. I fully believe 
that in every human being, no matter how degraded, there is some particle 
of good left, and that we are much more easily led by kindness and love 
than driven by force, and hence I am brought to the conclusion that the 
present form of civil government is not the sort adapted to even the pres- 
ent condition of the human family, but as my lot has fallen among a 
people possessing such laws and such a form of government, I believe 
my duty as a member of the human family is, by living up to the dic- 
tates of the higher law to give my brethren no cause of offence, by 
transgressing their outward laws save those which conflict with my 
conscientious convictions of duty to my God, and then to seek in the 
ability afforded by my Heavenly Father to exert an influence to better the 
conditions of those around me, cheerfully bearing my proportionate ex- 



126 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

pense of carrying on the government under which I live, even when it 
is exerting its efforts and wielding its power to destroy human life, and 
patiently submitting to the distraining of my property if such should be 
the event of such a course. 

I believe that laws are necessary for the government of men, but I also 
believe that those laws should be founded upon Christian principles in- 
stead of on the brutal instincts of the animal nature, and I am firm in the 
belief that were they thus founded we should witness a far different state 
of things among the human family. 

If the premises herein stated be correct, shall we then, because we stand 
almost alone, hold our peace or conclude that the sublime, beatified 
principles of Christianity cannot be reduced to practice, and are beyond 
the reach and comprehension of the human family? 

Whatever course may do for thee to adopt, it will not do for me, and 
if no other result flows therefrom, if I have faithfully borne my testimony 
and have endeavored to exemplify it in my daily walk, of this I am as- 
sured that my peace will be secured while here, and then, when done with 
time, I have a confiding hope that my spirit will be ushered into the 
mansions of joy and bliss, I crave no higher bourne than this for myself, 
nor do I covet more for others. 

I find I have written much and with the hope that it may not prove 
uninteresting to thee and in much love to thee and thy family in which 
my wife joins me, I remain affectionately thy attached friend, 

John J. Cornell. 



CHAPTER VII. 
Ministry and Travels and Incidents Connected Therewith. 

In the preceding chapter I have introduced a correspondence 
which was conducted at intervals between the time of my first 
appearance in the ministry, and that when my ministry was 
acknowledged by the Monthly Meeting. This correspondence 
presents my views on the several subjects referred to at that time, 
and while at this period of my life I might change the form of 
expression I would not the principles or line of thought then 
given. During the latter part of this period I made occasional 
visits away from home under an apprehension of duty, one of 
which is noted in that correspondence. Another was in the win- 
ter of 1 86 1, when with the consent of the Elders of Farmington 
Quarterly Meeting, in company with my wife, I attended Scipio 
Quarterly Meeting, held near Poplar Ridge, Cayuga county, New 
York, which visit was very satisfactory to us and appeared to be 
to the visited, as a very warm and close feeling of fellowship 
was then established with the friends of that meeting, which con- 
tinues unbroken, as far as I know, to the present time. 

In the fall of i860, while in my field cutting corn on the day 
of the Meeting of Ministers and Elders, I was suddenly and 
deeply impressed that the proper time had arrived for the acknowl- 
edgment of my ministry, accompanied with a clear sight of a field 
of labor into which it would be my place to enter when that event 
had taken place, and I subsequently learned that about that hour 
the subject was under consideration in the meeting, but was in- 
definitely postponed, for what reason I never knew, nor did I feel 
it my place to enquire. 

While I clearly saw the time would come when the acknowledg- 
ment would take place, although I was under the exercise 



128 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

regarding the visit above referred to, yet I felt no anxiety about 
it. I did not feel it was especially my business to be concerned 
about the matter, but that it was the business of the ministers and 
elders of the Monthly Meeting. All I had to do was to be faith- 
ful to my gift, bear my testimony and leave it there. I was aware 
I was led in a different manner from many others in the ministry, 
and as I had taken an active part in meetings of discipline, and 
having naturally a positive manner of expression it had created in 
some minds a prejudice against my ministry, and with some mem- 
bers of the meeting had it not been for that portion of my gift 
by which I was led to speak to the conditions of many present. 
I have often thought my acknowledgment would have been much 
longer delayed. I was at this time placed in the responsible 
position of Clerk of the Yearly Meeting, and this tended to 
increase a feeling in one or two members of my own par- 
ticular meeting, that in after years was shown more 
distinctly and which culminated disastrously to them. In the 
Seventh month, 1862, the Monthly Meeting was informed 
that the Preparative Meeting of Ministers and Elders were united 
in acknowledging my ministry. A committee was appointed to hear 
objections and one of those most deeply prejudiced was named 
as one of the number, but declined, but at my especial request 
consented to serve, as I thought the subject of the ground work 
of his opposition had better be disposed of in the committee than 
in the meeting. At the next Monthly Meeting the committee 
asked for three months more time, which was granted. After 
meeting, my friends and the Elders in particular, gathered around 
me, telling me not to be discouraged, that all would come out 
right, to which I replied, I felt no discouragement. It was not 
my business, but theirs. I knew that it would place added re- 
sponsibilities upon me and that when the right time came all ob- 
jections would be removed, that they need feel no uneasiness about 
it. This seemed to relieve them and take from them a heavy 
load. 

At the end of the three months they reported they were united 



Ministry and Travels 129 

in adopting the action of the Meeting of Ministers and Elders. I 
was, therefore, recorded as a minister. I have written of this 
minutely for the encouragement of some into whose hands this 
may fall and as a lesson that they should not become anxious 
to be acknowledged, if intrusted with a gift in the ministry, for 
I have known several who while they had not a large gift who 
have dwarfed what they had, and became objects of much concern 
and uneasiness to their friends because of an over-anxiety to be 
acknowledged, and some almost embittered against the Meeting of 
Ministers and Elders on that account. While these more ex- 
perienced minds saw the time was not ripe and because of this 
over anxiety and feeling the gift was not enlarged and they never 
grew enough to warrant their acknowledgment. As I look back 
over my experience in these matters, I am more than ever con- 
vinced that a true minister must not allow him or herself to be- 
come anxious to be recognized by their friends, but by keeping the 
eye close to the guide, performing the service that is required un- 
der the liberty given in the order of our Society, when the gift has 
become sufficiently enlarged their friends will perceive it, and 
when they become fitted to bear the added responsbility of ac- 
knowledgment without danger to themselves and to the best in- 
terests of society it will be given. 

At the same Monthly Meeting, at which the acknowledgment 
was decided upon, I laid before it the concern which I had been 
carrying for over two years, which had remained as fresh as when 
it was first opened to me. The concern was heartily united with, 
though the circumstance was very unusual, when a very valuable 
elder, one of my warmest friends and a wise counsellor, rose and 
said he had been under a similar concern and felt it would be 
right for him to accompany me. He did not know until I had 
opened my concern that I had any thought of it, but it was a great 
relief to me, and I think to friends generally, for it was so con- 
firmatory that the call was a right one, that a precious feeling of 
thankfulness filled my heart. 

The prospect was to visit a Monthly Meeting within our 

9 



130 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Quarterly Meeting and appoint some meetings among those not 
in membership with us. We were absent about three weeks in 
its prosecution and held a number of meetings. In those meetings 
outside of our own I was led to enlarge much beyond anything 
I had ever known. 

In the summer of 1863 another severe trial came in the re- 
moval by death by typhoid fever of my stepmother. After the 
death of her boy she seemed to take to me in a nearer relationship 
as mother and son than had previously been the case, and at the 
time of her decease, so close had this precious bond of love become 
that it seemed like living over again the hours of parting with 
my own beloved mother. My father w T as deeply stricken by the 
blow and as there was no one to live with him he made his home 
with us. I had previously felt that it would be my duty to attend 
the approaching Yearly Meeting at Baltimore, and this bereave- 
ment seemed to make it doubly hard to leave home and to leave 
my father in his lonely condition, but as the impression remained 
clear I, with his consent, laid the matter before the meeting and 
was granted the necessary minute. The same elder, Joseph 
Thorn, having had a similar concern, he and my wife accompanied 
me. My minute gave me the liberty to attend Baltimore Yearly 
Meeting and Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting. This was among 
the most memorable visits I have ever made, in that the service 
required was of such a peculiar and baptizing nature. 

At the Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders, very soon 
after the meeting settled, I was led into a deep travail of spirit 
from the impression that there was a serious difficulty between 
two of their ministers, but that only one of them was present, 
and when the word of command was given I arose, stated what 
I saw in spiritual vision and gave what appeared to me as some 
pertinent counsel in a concise manner, but on sitting down I did 
not feel relieved. While I had been speaking every word seemed 
to rebound and not to find a resting place with the individual for 
whom I was called to my feet. This brought me under deeper 
exercise and the reasoner presented itself with the language thou 



Ministry and Travels 131 

art mistaken this time and thy mission among this people will be 
marred by thy imprudence, but as I labored to get into quiet there 
came the impression that the individual for whom this exercise 
has been called for is saying in his heart, " Thou hast heard this 
from some one through thy outward ears and has come in here 
to palm it off as inspiration and hence has closed his mind 
against the reception of thy testimony. Arise again and tell him 
so, and I will give thee a knowledge of some things known to his 
friends, but which he knows thee can not have any knowledge 
of. and some other things which are known to no other human 
being but himself." After sitting a few moments under the heavy 
rsponsibility placed upon me, I arose and delivered the message, 
and this time it did not return but found its place. Nothing was 
said by any one, but soon the query enquiring after love and unity 
was read, and the report confirmed my feelings, and I was easy 
under the testimony delivered, though it was the most pointed and 
severe that had ever been called for from me. In the evening 
following after we had taken tea at Rebecca Turner's, a minister 
who was present took me one side and said, " John, I know thee 
told us in meeting that thee had no knowledge of the condition 
thee portrayed, but I want to ask thee if thee had not had some 
hint about it." I replied, "No ; not the slightest. You are all 
strangers to me but two, one of whom had attended Genesee 
Yearly Meeting the year before, and I suppose the friend thought 
he must have spoken about it." He then said, " This is marvelous. 
.For had thou known all the circumstances connected with the case 
thou could not have described it more accurately than thou did." 
Such a confirmation was very helpful to me, especially as each 
day's service was of a close character, though none were so 
marked as this. 

After the Yearly Meeting closed we went to Darby to the home 
of John H. Andrews, and were at that metting on First day morn- 
ing, when I was led to describe a condition very closely, which 
my friend, J. H. A., said was particularly applicable to one 
present whom he knew. In the afternoon we went to Spruce 



132 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Street, Philadelphia, and here I had another close testimony upon 
the two kinds of zeal and made so clear an application that I 
could have laid my hand upon the person for whom it was in- 
tended, and I was subsequently informed I was correct. Second 
day was the Meeting of Ministers and Elders of Philadelphia 
Quarterly Meeting, through which I sat until near the close 
under a deep exercise and with the hope that I might be excused 
from delivering what I saw, but that did not come. I arose and 
described a spirit of jealousy that was present at that meeting, 
the devastation, the breaking of unity it had caused and appealed 
to the one indulging it to change his course of life for his own and 
Society's sake, and this time too I could have told who the in- 
dividual was, though an entire stranger to me. A deep silence 
settled over the meeting, when a venerable friend by whose side I 
sat, arose and said, " I should do violence to my feelings if I did 
not bear my testimony to the truth of what our young brother has 
delivered among us." Then a dear aged woman rose with the 
words, " Friends, we know it is true and may we profit by the 
testimony of our young friend." Then dear E. Newport rose 
with a similar language and said, " I saw this young friend in 
his home in mental vision before he started on this journey. I 
saw that a mission of an unusual character would be given him ; 
that he was as a child just learning to walk, but that the dear 
Father would support him through this severe test of his faithful- 
ness," and this to me was sweet, soothing counsel. The feeling that 
spread over that meeting was deeply impressive and the cordial 
greeting at its close was very encouraging to one on whom had 
been laid such a trying service. 

On Third day occurred the Quarterly Meeting and on first 
awakening I was impressed that I should meet with a deeply 
discouraged spirit at meeting and would have to speak to her 
condition, but I put it away from me. I had grown up under the 
idea that everything a minister delivered in a meeting must then 
and there be revealed to him and that nothing thought of out of 
the meeting could be gospel, and with this thought in mind, al- 



Ministry and Travels 133 

though the conviction would keep coining up, I put it from me. 
As I went into the meeting house yard I met an aged woman, a 
minister, who as I grasped her hand, for we had known each 
other some time, she said, " John, I want thee to be a good boy to- 
day," as though she was conscious of the struggle that was going 
on within me over this impresssion. Very soon after we gath- 
ered into silence I felt the command and under it arose and de- 
livered the message and near the close of the meeting appeared 
in supplication on its behalf. 

After the Quarterly Meeting closed our friend George Truman, 
with whom we were going home, suggested that we go through 
the women's meeting room as that would be nearer to his carriage. 
This being rather unusual, as we passed into the room, I noticed 
a woman dressed very plainly walking up and down the west 
aisle alone; and after greeting our many friends as we passed 
over to that side she came forward and met me and said, "I could 
not go away from this meeting until I had told thee that I am 
the one for whom thy communication was intended, and I want 
to tell thee how thee has lifted the heavy burden that was rest- 
ing upon me." I told her not to thank me but the Lord, by whom 
the message was given. Here was an important lesson to me, 
as I learned my early teaching was not altogether correct, and 
this confirmed me in a conviction which had settled in my mind, 
but of which I was not then at liberty to speak. I had gathered 
from the testimonies of those to whom I had been accustomed 
to listen, that every word uttered, when under a Divine commis- 
sion to speak to the people, was furnished the speaker at the time 
and for which the service was required. My conviction had been 
that the Lord gives to His commissioned servants the thought or 
idea he wants them to deliver and they clothe that thought in such 
language as they were accustomed to use. If educated and cul- 
tured, they would use that kind of language ; if illiterate, illiterate 
language — while the testimony would convey the same thought. 

We returned home with thankful hearts, bearing with us our 
sheaves of peace. 



134 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

During the winter and spring following I had a minute liberat- 
ing me to appoint some meetings among those not in membership 
with us. In this service I met with much at first calculated to dis- 
courage me, in the form of a deep-seated prejudice against us be- 
cause of the manner in which our friends had conducted meetings 
previously held in other meeting houses or churches, by the strong 
denunciatory manner in which they referred to the ministry of 
these denominations who received salaries for preaching under an 
apprehended duty they must bear a testimony against a hireling 
ministry. While I do not, in recording this experience, mean to 
assume the role of a critic or to say they were not doing God 
a service, I did find that it interfered very materially at first 
with my gaining an entrance into their meeting houses, and it 
naturally suggested the thought that if the effect of their ministry 
was to repel instead of to gather, to engender prejudice instead 
of making an open way for others, there must have been a mistake 
somewhere either as to the nature of the thought to be expressed 
or the manner in which it was spoken. 

As the time for the holding of our Yearly Meeting drew near 
it being held at Pickering, Ontario, I was drawn to make a 
visit within the limits of Yonge Street Monthly Meeting, and 
obtained a minute therefor. While I was making arrangements 
therefore as to where we would be entertained and by whom as- 
sisted to carry out the work, I was impressed to write to a friend 
whom I knew was situated so as to aid me, and did so. But soon 
after writing a friend asked me where I intended to go and I 
told him, and he at once replied, " He will not want to see thee, 
for he thinks that two years ago thee purposely mortified him be- 
fore the Yearly Meeting." Knowing this to be entirely false, I 
said to the friend I felt impressed to write to him, and I am now 
more than ever satisfied I was right.. I soon received a response 
favorable to my wishes and we went to his home, receiving as I 
had expected, after learning the state of his feelings, a rather cool 
reception on his part and that of the family. I did not advert 
to the circumstance in any way, nor did I appear to notice the 



Ministry and Travels 135 

coolness. He went with us through the whole meeting and in a 
day or so I noticed his whole manner changed, and a similar 
change was noticeable with the family. On the last evening we 
were there, just before retiring he opened the subject, told me how 
he had felt and how hard it had been to receive us, but he said, " I 
now see I was wrong ; that thee did not intend anything and thou 
art a very different kind of a man I thought thee to be," and from 
that time to the period of his death we were very warm friends. 
I record this as a testimony to prove that when we are not con- 
scious of having injured another, though we may be accused of 
having done so, we may overcome the prejudice by an open- 
hearted, loving manner and by placing ourselves under some ob- 
ligation to those who may be thus prejudiced. 

The next minute I obtained was in the Twelfth month, 1866, 
and this was to attend most of the Quarterly Meetings belonging 
to New York Yearly Meeting and appoint some meetings within 
their limits. I entered upon that service accompanied by my wife 
and Joseph Thorne and wife in the First month, by attending 
Westbury Quarterly Meeting in New York. It had then been 
twenty-five years since as a boy and a member of that meeting I 
had attended it, and now coming back as an approved minister 
seemed to give an added power to the testimony delivered. There 
was not much out of the usual occurrences in such events to note 
until I reached Nine Partners Quarterly Meeting, held at Nine 
Partners. It was where I had been at school under the care 
of the Orthodox Friends, but had never been permitted but once 
to attend our own meeting, though the two houses were but a few 
rods apart. In the Meeting of Ministers and Elders, all of whom 
were strangers to me, I had a sight of one who had received a 
call to the ministry, but who had refused to enter therein, and as 
I told them in consequence they had not only dwarfed their own 
spiritual growth, but by their withholding had seriously inter- 
fered with and retarded the growth of others to whom had they 
been true they would have been an encouragement. I 
noticed while I was speaking a woman past the middle age of life 



136 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

was weeping and seemed to be deeply affected. As the meeting 
closed a man came to me and asked me to go home with him. I re- 
plied not then, but would see later. The next morning as soon as I 
awakened the impression came, " Go home with that friend to- 
night. I have some work for thee to do there." So as the meet- 
ing closed the next day I said to him, " I want to go to thy house," 
and it seemed to be right and pleasant. So he took us home with 
him. But as he left me a friend came up and said to me, " We 
have a place for a meeting at Hartsville, and we can get up a 
large meeting," and turned and left me. In a moment the impres- 
sion came it will be proper to have a meeting there. So I 
went out of the house and said to him, " I will let thee know in the 
morning about a meeting at the place thee mentioned." 

A large company gathered at the home of the friend with whom 
we went from the meeting, and I found on getting there it was the 
house of the friend I saw weeping in the meeting the previous day. 
A number more came in the evening, and while enjoying our- 
selves in a social way and in a somewhat lively manner, I felt a 
sudden check and lapsed into silence, which was soon observed by 
the rest until all were still. I was soon led to address several 
states in the room and among them this woman, and I told her she 
was the one for whom my testimony was called for the day before, 
and encouraged her to be faithful ; that she yet might be useful, 
but could never attain to what she might had she given up earlier. 
It was a deeply tendering time, tears flowed freely from many 
eyes, and we separated with a feeling that we had been blest to- 
gether. As the company was leaving, the friend who had spoken 
to me about the meeting came to the door and asked if I could 
not give him an answer that night, as it would facilitate giving 
notice, and I replied he might arrange for the meeting. 

The next evening when the meeting alluded to was to be held 
we found in getting to the house, although in time, that it was 
nearly full. It was a public hall for town business. On the plat- 
form was a high desk and so arranged that one sitting down 
could not see the audience except a few at the side. I was soon 



Ministry and Travels 137 

brought under a deep exercise regarding some statements that 
had been recently made by some of our Orthodox brethren in 
that neighborhood. As I was impressed, though I had not heard 
anything with my outward ear, I soon rose with the remark, " I 
apprehend it is well known to this audience that I belong to that 
branch of the Society of Friends that have been styled heterodox ; 
that we are accused of denying the Divinity of Christ; that we 
deny the Bible ; that we deny the Lord that bought us, and hence 
do not believe in a Savior, which accusations are simply un- 
true," and then proceeded to show how and why they were 
untrue and what was the true Christian ground we occupied 
from my standpoint. When meeting closed I learned that 
a minister of the Orthodox branch, from Ohio or In- 
diana, had held a meeting in that house on the preceding Seventh 
day and had then and there made the statements which I re- 
peated just as he had made them, and that he and most of our 
Orthodox Friends in that vicinity were present at my meeting. In 
a few days the same friend held another meeting in the same house 
and endeavored to answer me, but I was informed that his own 
friends acknowledged he made a failure of it and left an unfavor- 
able impression behind him in consequence. 

It seemed almost marvelous to me afterwards how the Divine 
mind made known to me the condition of things in that place and 
how wonderfully he led me to expose that bitterness which would 
so publicly and wrongfully attack fellow professors of the same 
religion. 

On reaching home I soon found I must write to the woman 
friend to whom I had been so closely drawn. And I quickly re- 
ceived a response in which she said thy letter arrived on meeting 
morning and under its influence I was enabled to yield and a 
sweet peace to which I have been a stranger for thirty years has 
been my portion, and here is a lesson I cannot forbear calling the 
attention of my readers to. This woman was endowed with ex- 
cellent powers for good, was an upright, loving and lovely char- 
acter, one of good judgment, had filled many important positions 



138 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

in Society as overseer and elder, was largely used on important 
committees in the Yearly Meeting and yet for thirty years had not 
known peace of mind because she would not yield to be a preacher 
among Friends. Showing that no matter how pure the life may be 
in the sight of men if anything God requires is withheld we have 
no true peace. She has since been faithful and though now over 
ninety years of age with faculties much impaired, will, I doubt not, 
be granted her penny if she did not enter until the eleventh hour, 
but had she been faithful to the first call to duty would have been 
a shining light in our Society. 

During the summer of 1867 I paid a visit to the State Prison 
at Auburn under an apprehended duty, arrangements having been 
made with the chaplain and authorities for the purpose, and in 
company with a friend, also a minister, we went to Auburn on 
Seventh day and were kindly entertained at the home of David 
Wright, whose wife was a sister of Lucretia Mott, and through 
whom arrangements had been made for a meeting in one of the 
churches in that city in the evening. This was the only visit of 
the kind I ever made, but it was full of interesting incidents which 
made a deep impression on my mind and which I deem worthy of 
record. 

I had gone to one place for the night and my friend to another, 
so I arrived at the prison a few moments first and before the pris- 
oners had begun to come in. When my friend arrived about half 
of the prisoners were seated and he being dressed in a somewhat 
primitive style, with gray clothes and a white hat, which he wore 
all through the service, it created a good deal of merriment among 
the prisoners, requiring considerable effort on the part of the 
keepers to restore order. When all were seated the chaplain said 
they always had a formal service no matter who was there, and 
so he commenced by offering a prayer, which was followed by a 
scraping of the feet by the prisoners, and an " ahem," as if clear- 
ing the throat. It impressed me at the time as if they would 
have said, if the liberty of speech had been given them, " Well, 
I am glad that is through with." He then read from the Bible with 



Ministry and Travels 139 

a like result. Then a hymn was sung, followed by a similar action 
on the part of the prisoners, which when we remember there were 
over 800 of them in the room, the noise was extremely unpleasant. 
He then introduced me, and I arose with very strange feelings, 
probably somewhat owing to their action and somewhat to the in- 
tense feeling of sorrow and pity for their condition. I told them 
that while the other exercises had been going on, there had passed 
before my mental vision several scenes which I would endeavor to 
depict for them as well I was able. I then drew a word picture 
of a home in which were a young couple commencing life with 
their first born, a boy babe, and presented to them the hopes and 
aspirations of those fond parents for that boy. Then another picture 
of that same boy in school life. Then another as he approached man- 
hood and began to mix with evil companions ; another of the boy 
in the saloon and at the gaining table, and finally of his incarcera- 
tion within these walls. Then at the last, another of that home 
as I first saw it and it was now with the mother prematurely 
old and gray, sorrowing for her wayward son, in prayer for his 
reformation and return, and then called their attention to the 
fact that if our earthly parents followed us with such undying 
love, how much more tender and long forbearing and forgiving 
was our Heavenly Father, and appealed to them to resolve to live 
a better life when they should be liberated. Many eyes were wet 
with tears as I closed and a most profound quiet settled over them 
— so different from the formal worship to which they had been ac- 
customed, and it taught me anew the lesson that no matter how 
hardened in crime one may be, there is yet left a tender chord, 
which if rightly touched, will respond with a softened feeling, and 
I left with the thought that some good had been done. 

The winter following I obtained a minute to attend Scipio 
Quarterly Meeting and appoint some meetings within its limits, 
which service accompanied by my wfe and J W. and wife we en- 
tered on the early part of the Second month. The snow was very 
deep when we arrived there, making it somewhat difficult 
to get around, yet we held several meetings, one of which was 



140 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

somewhat remarkable. We appointed a meeting at Aurora, and 
there were only six persons besides ourselves present, owing, as 
I afterwards learned, to the many divisions which had occurred in 
that vicinity among Friends, there being five Quarterly Meetings 
held within a radius of about three miles. 

I sat in the pews for some time, but finally found a peculiar 
service opening before me, and I went up into the pulpit and ad- 
dressed a particular state who was laboring under a great dis- 
couragement — had denied there was anything in religion and was 
seriously thinking of taking his life, and a full, free and powerful 
flow of the Gospel message was given to him, for I felt it was a 
brother present, and so expressed myself. I could not discover 
that it reached any one by my outward senses, and I wondered if I 
was led aright, but some time after I was informed I was cor- 
rect in my feelings and had aroused the man to greater exer- 
tions and removed the bitter feelings regarding religion. We 
went to Skaneateles on this visit and were entertained at the 
home of Anson Lapham, who at first thought we could not get 
up a meeting, the snow was so deep — being five feet on the 
level, but by a little exertion a large meeting was held in the vil- 
lage near, to general satisfaction. We then went to Syracuse 
where there was only one Friend's family, and had a meeting in 
their home — a number who had never seen or heard a Friend 
having been invited in. My service in this meeting was entirely 
in addressing states and at its close much tenderness was mani- 
fested and many expressions of thankfulness were given for the 
opportunity, it being something they had never witnessed. We 
returned from this visit feeling amply repaid for the sacrifice 
made and the difficulties encountered. 

In the fall of 1868 I asked for and obtained a minute to visit the 
families of Farmington Quarterly Meeting, which as they were 
widely scattered occupied me until quite into the spring. In this 
vsit a number of incidents worth recording occurred. I shall 
never forget, while memory lasts, my first visit on this mission. 
It was to a woman Friend who had been speaking for several 



Ministry and Travels 141 

years but had made but little advancement. I with my com- 
panion, J. Thorn, went to the house trembling within, yet trusting. 
Her husband came in and when we got into the quiet I saw that 
he was opposing her speaking, and in that opposition he had 
not always spoken kindly to her and of Friends. I had some 
plain service, told him if he wanted peace he must not any longer 
retard the work of his wife and encouraged her to be more faith- 
ful. His opposition ceased and she became a valued minister, 
though too late in life to go much from home. 

In another visit to a family where the woman was a member, 
I found the most squalor I have ever seen in a Friend's home. 
The man was at the barn, but came in when invited. As he 
came into the room I saw with the spiritual vision in a semi-cir- 
cular form in glittering letters on his forehead the word " Spirit- 
ualist." He was neglecting his wife and she had become discour- 
aged and disheartened and had given way to a fretful disposition, 
resulting in a very unhappy home. To labor here, be truthful 
and plain, and not worry or offend, but encourage both to better 
things, made my work difficult, but I was enabled to go through 
it with a peaceful heart. On getting into the wagon my com- 
panion who was with me from place to place said to me, " John, I 
think thee is mistaken this time. I have known that man from 
his boyhood and this is the first time I ever heard he was a 
spiritualist." I told him I would rather be mistaken than to have 
found things as I did, but I felt peaceful and would leave results. 
But that evening after we had partaken of our supper with 
the friend who was to entertain us over night he asked where we 
had been, and when we came to this man's name, " Oh," he said, 
" he is a spiritualist," to which I remarked to my companion, 
" What dost thou think, now ? " 

When about to begin in another neighborhood the Elder told 
me over night that one friend who lived several miles away 
told him not to bring me to his house as he did not want to see me. 
But as we were about starting the next morning, when he 
asked me where we should go I said, " We will drive to see this 



142 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

friend first ; " so we did ; found him in bed recovering from an at- 
tack of typhoid fever, but still weak. My friend went up stairs to 
see him and after a time came down and told me the friend 
was willing to see me for a few moments but was too weak for 
a sitting. I went up stairs and directly asked him what was the 
matter that he did not wish to see me. We had been acquainted 
when we were young men. He said he understood me to say 
at the funeral of his brother-in-law that I did not believe in the 
Bible, and hence we was unwilling to listen to me. I told him he 
certainly misunderstood me, for such was not my view. I then gave 
him my understanding of it and how I believed it. He replied, 
" If that is thy view, I certainly misunderstood thee, for this is 
exactly my idea of it." I then asked him, he being a lawyer, if he 
had not found in his experience when pleading with a jury that 
things seemed so clear to him that he thought they must also see 
it and afterwards found they did not. He took my hand warmly, 
" Yes, John, and I have lost several cases by it." Then I said, 
" Thou can readily understand how a minister in handling a sub- 
ject may refer to the Bible with the thought that his idea must 
be clearly understood, and hence did not stop to explain it, and be 
thus misunderstood." He replied, " I now see it and am sorry I 
entertained such feelings," and we have been warm friends ever 
since. 

During this visit I felt drawn to have a meeting in an Orthodox 
Meeting-House in the vicinity where the last incident occurred and 
for a wonder it was granted and we had a satisfactory meeting to 
most present — though some evangelistic ministers who were pres- 
ent made use of it to prejudice the minds of the members of a 
Baptist church a few miles distant, where I had appointed a meet- 
ing on Fourth day evening, but it resulted in a crowded house 
and their efforts only made my way the more easy. 

In another instance I went into a family of entire strangers and 
soon after sitting down I saw they were in difficulty, that there 
was an estrangement between the husband and his brother who 
lived across the road, and that the wife had been instrumental in 



Ministry and Travels 143 

bringing it about and had to tell them what I saw and what 
would result unless a change of action was adopted by her. I 
felt the husband would act differently if she would let him. When 
I closed she immediately acknowledged I had spoken the truth, 
but that some one had told me, and evinced some anger at our 
coming under such circumstances. I told her I had not heard of 
them until that morning, and a cousin of my mother's, at whose 
home we had stayed the night before, wanted to go with us there 
and I wondered why but consented. I turned to him and asked 
him to tell them if any thing had been said about them at his 
home. He told them no, and that I did not know anything 
about them at all until my companion told me where we were 
going. This satisfied her, she became tendered, and I subse- 
quently learned, the difficulty was arranged and harmony re- 
stored. 

In the spring of 1869 I felt drawn to attend the Yearly Meet- 
ings of New York and Philadelphia and obtained a minute liberat- 
ing me for the service. This visit was one of much labor and of 
deep baptism, though there were few incidents that need to be 
noted in particular, except I was more enlarged in testimony 
than I had previously been. In many of the meetings states 
were addressed and information nearly always reached me before 
leaving the vicinity that I had been correctly drawn. 

At a meeting held at Poughkeepsie after the close of New York 
Yearly Meeting I had a sense that some one was present who had 
come with the express purpose of cavilling at what I might have 
to say, so that I arose with the expression, " If thy objections are 
answered wilt thou then believe," and stated that I felt as above 
written and reiterated the question, " If thy objections are an- 
swered wilt thou then believe ? " After I had closed my exercise, a 
man sitting in the gallery a little way from me arose and in a 
very smooth, oily manner, commenced to speak and finally openly 
charged me with disbelieving the Bible. When he sat down I felt 
to give to the people what I did believe about the Bible, at the 
close of which as I broke the meeting, an old man who sat 



144 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

facing me, not a member but an old friend of my father's, shook 
hands with me and said, " That man will never accuse you of dis- 
believing the Bible again." He proved to be a minister of the 
Orthodox Friends of that city. 

In the summer of 1870 I had a minute to make a visit to 
Pelham Half- Yearly Meeting and some of its subordinate 
branches and to appoint some meetings within its limits. During 
the Eighth month my wife and self accomplished part of this 
work in the course of which this incident occurred. I felt a 
drawing to have a meeting in the Meeting-House belonging to the 
Orthodox Friends, near Norwich, Canada. One of my uncles, 
who lived a few miles from there went to see about it and make 
the needed arrangements, but after considering the matter they 
refused to open the house. He then went to see the Methodist 
minister, who lived not far away, but in the town. He promptly 
answered, " No ; I understand Mr. Cornell is an infidel, and I do 
not want any infidelity preached in my pulpit." At this juncture 
the proprietor of the hotel in the place, who owned a large hall 
attached to the hotel, which he rented for town purposes and 
entertainments, came forward and offered the hall, which my 
uncle accepted. So the meeting was appointed for 2 P. M. on 
First day. They day was an exceedingly hot one, the mercury 
standing in the nineties. The hall running north and south with 
large windows to the west, with no curtains or shades, made it a 
very warm place. But at the hour the people flocked in and filled 
every seat, among them two Orthodox ministers and nearly all 
their members, the Methodist minister and his flock, all anxious to 
hear what the infidel would have to say. I could feel that deep 
spirit of prejudice under which they came. I rose soon after the 
meeting settled and labored first to clear up or break down that 
bitter spirit and it took me about three-quarters of an hour before 
I could see the way clear to deliver the message I felt I had for 
the people. I felt that spirit yielding and then I entered upon my 
real mission standing an hour and a quarter longer, and the meet- 
ing closed with a sweet tender feeling over all minds. After the 



Ministry and Travels 



145 



meeting closed and I came down from the platform the Orthodox 
ministers and the Methodist met me and taking each of my hands 
said, " Brother, we must acknowledge you were inspired to-day," 
and so I can verily say, the truth triumphed over all the opposi- 
tion. 

In the fall of this year I obtained another minute to appoint 
meetings among those not in membership with us within the 
limits of Farmington Quarterly Meeting and to finish what had 
been left undone in Pelham Half- Yearly Meeting. In the pur- 
suance of that concern I was accompanied by my friend Joseph 
Thorne. While we were attending the Half- Yearly Meeting an 
incident occurred which had an important bearing and influence 
upon the character of my ministry ever since. 

On First day morning I had delivered a strong doctrinal sermon 
from the text " Yet I am the Lord thy God from out of Egypt. 
Thou shall have no other God before me, for beside me there is no 
Savior." As I sat down a man rose in the audience and said, " Does 
the brother deny the atonement made by Jesus Christ on Mount 
Calvary ? " and then went on to state the evangelical belief on that 
subject very excitedly and then left the meeting. I was brought un- 
der exercise and felt best to state to the meeting that as I had been 
asked a plain question I felt it would be right to make a plain 
reply, and then gave my views on that subject, showing that each 
one must make his own atonement by ceasing to do evil and learn- 
ing to do well. As I broke the meeting an announcement was 
made that we were to have a meeting in a Baptist house about five 
miles from where we were, and as that announcement was made a 
young man in the back part of the house arose and said, " I am 
the sexton of the church where that meeting is to be held, and I 
hope we shall not have any such doctrine preached there as we 
have had here to-day." Between both of these interruptions a 
considerable excitement was created and my friends after meet- 
ing seemed some disturbed lest it should discourage and dis- 
hearten me, but I was preserved in a quiet frame of mind with the 
feeling that all would terminate well. 

10 



146 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

When evening arrived and we went to the place of meeting we 
found a house literally packed and here I was led to speak upon 
'•'What Made a Christian? What Was Its Object and Effect?" 
delivering the same doctrine as in the morning but from a differ- 
ent standpoint, and as the meeting closed a large expression of 
satisfaction was made and much feeling of unity manifested. This 
set me to thinking seriously regarding the manner of expression 
and opened to me the necessity of the minister exercising care in 
the delivery of his message, to do it in such a form and in such 
language as will tend to gather and inspire confidence in him in- 
stead of repelling and arousing and deepening prejudices against 
him. Prior to this time I had been repeatedly replied to, some- 
times in not the most courteous manner. I found that there was a 
danger of getting into a form of set phraseology under which 
we would say things harsher than we felt, and it thus opened before 
me that in accepting a call to the ministry it was a part of our 
duty to as far as lay in our power culture ourselves so that we 
might deliver our testimonies in a manner which should win its 
way to the hearts of those who differed from us in view rather 
than to repel them by our abruptness or harshness in denunciation 
of those of others, and since the conclusion of that mission I 
have never met with any public opposition, as it changed my 
whole manner of expression. 

On the following First day evening we had a meeting in a Meth- 
odist house in the village of Eden, Erie county, New York, at 
which I spoke from the text, " I am the resurrection and the 
life," etc., and near the close of the meeting I told them I felt im- 
pressed to open before them my understanding of the doctrine 
of the atonement, but not with any view of antagonizing the ideas 
of any others. As I sat down the minister arose and in a very 
excited manner said, " The doctrine delivered here to-night is di- 
rectly antagonistic to the doctrines ever held by the Methodist 
Church, and I will preach from the same text next Sabbath." I 
did not notice it but soon closed the meeting witli a few remarks 
which seemed to me appropriate, After the meeting the 



Ministry and Travels 147 

minister came to me and in a very excited manner asked me if I 
was an accredited minister of the Society of Friends. He then 
said, " I do not see why you could not have brought some message 
upon which we could all agree and not hurt people's feelings as 
you have to-night." I replied, "First, I am not the bearer of my 
own messages, nor do I see any reason for any one's feelings to 
be hurt. I did not attack any one's view but simply gave you 
my own, which, as an independent thinker, I had a right to do," 
and in an angry mood he turned away, saying, " Well, I shall 
preach from the same text next Sabbath," to which I replied, " I 
had not the slightest objection ; that I had no fear that the truth 
would suffer in consequence." As he left me one of the trustees 
of the church came to me and referring to the minister said he 
was a young man and had a good deal to learn yet, and I said, " I 
perceive he has. " 

On the next First day, as I was afterward informed, a large 
meeting gathered to hear him answer the Quaker, a reporter for 
one of the Buffalo papers was present at both meetings and gave 
a synopsis of both discourses, as far as the minister went, as he 
stated it, the Methodist had spoken for about twenty minutes and 
had not answered a single point in Mr. Cornell's discourse, and 
then stopped, stood a moment or two, and then said, ." Friends, 
forgive me, I am wrong," and then closed the meeting. And so 
as I said to him, the truth did not suffer by his answer, but was 
triumphant. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Ministry and Travels and Incidents Connected Therewith. 

(Continued.) 

I come now to a period in my religious experience wherein I 
was to be the most deeply tried, and when a storm which had been 
slowly gathering was about to burst upon me with an almost over- 
whelming force. 

In the particular meeting to which I belonged was a minister 
who had been acknowledged several years before I was, and 
who at the time of his acknowledgment had a sweet 
gift, but after that it did not seem to enlarge nor did he appear 
to have any mission outside his own meeting, as he never asked 
for a minute for any service. And as I had become, from my 
position as clerk, and from the character of the service required of 
me in travelling to distant meetings, widely known, I had been 
requested to attend a large number of funerals, and while in 
our own home-meeting — my seat in the gallery was at the 
lower end of the upper seat — several old men as Elders occupying 
the seats at the head of the meeting, but on occasions of funerals 
I had been repeatedly desired by them to take the head of the 
meeting, all of which seemed to contribute to arouse in this minister 
an antagonism which manifested itself in many little ways, to 
which I paid no attention, but in the spring of 1872, when I had 
asked for the extension of my minute to appoint meetings among 
those outside of our Society, as I had not concluded all of my 
work, he deliberately arose and narrated to the meeting the cir- 
cumstances of a law suit in which I had been engaged for open- 
ing my home as an asylum of retreat for the sister of my wife, 
who was unfortunately married to a licentious husband, and as 




J.J. CORNELL 

(AT 47 YEARS OF AGE) 



Ministry and Travels 149 

my home was the home of her parents it was the only shelter to 
which she could flee. So my brother-in-law commenced an action 
against my father-in-law, my wife and myself for willfully and 
maliciously enticing away his wife and owing to a legal techni- 
cality and a biased judge succeeded in getting a verdict against 
me, my father-in-law dying before the suit came on. After nar- 
rating the events of the suit and the amount of judgment ob- 
tained said, " Now, if we liberate John, we virtually say to the 
world, he is innocent, and I am not prepared to say whether he is 
innocent or guilty ? " To say I was surprised but faintly ex- 
presses my feelings, the attack was so unjust, so uncalled for as he 
well knew, but I was calm, cool and collected. In a few mo- 
ments I arose and said, " Friends, you have heard what our 
brother has said. Now if the meeting is prepared to take the re- 
sponsibility of my concern none will be more glad to be relieved 
from it than will I." A most profound silence settled over the 
meeting, which lasted several minutes, when one friend arose and 
said, " I am not willing to take the responsibilty of John's con- 
cern," and another and another until all but my father had so 
expressed themselves, and the extension of the minute was granted 
me. The friend was labored with by some of the elders to induce 
him to make some acknowledgment, but he utterly refused. And 
for some time the queries were marked, with a delinquency re- 
garding love and unity. The trouble would be quiet for awhile 
but would break out afresh almost every time I asked for a minute. 
When it was ultimately brought to a conclusion, by the friend 
resigning his rights in Society and remaining out for thirteen 
years, when he again requested, was received, but was of but 
very little use to us. During this struggle, while I kept on my 
way outwardly calm and peaceful, entering on many missions, I 
had the most severe contest with myself. So many things would 
reach me calculated to arouse my indignation for their falsity 
and the evident intention to crush me as a minister, that to keep 
out all vindictive feelings, to live in an atmosphere of love 
only, to control all within me that was of a vengeful nature, to 



150 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

look upon these assaults with pity, and to go on in my work as 
though no unpleasant things were occurring, to quietly submit to 
insinuations from outsiders; that the two ministers of our meet- 
ing were quarreling without the opportunity of explaining, 
whitened my head ten years sooner than is the ordinary case with 
men, but under Divine help I was at last able to conquer my- 
self and live in an atmosphere where none of these things had 
power to move rne, and from which I could bear a testimony from 
experience it was possible to love our enemies. But it had an 
unfortunate effect upon our meeting, and its influence in the 
neighborhood. All his family withdrew with him and much 
was said by them among those not belonging with us to influence 
them against me, but after a number of years circumstances oc- 
curred which gave the public a clearer insight into matters and I 
once more regained their confidence and respect, but too late to 
regenerate the meeting. 

But notwithstanding this heavy drain on my physical and men- 
tal, as well as spiritual endurance, the Master seemed to require 
a good deal of labor away from home. In the fall of 1873 I 
again felt that it would be right for me to attend Baltimore 
Yearly Meeting ; so, in company with my beloved wife, who 
had been appointed to the station of an elder, we attended that 
meeting, wherein I found much labor ; but no especial incident 
occurred to record except that there we made a more particular 
acquaintance with dear M. W., whom we had just met the year 
before at our own Yearly Meeting. A little while after we re- 
turned from this visit, I came into the house one evening after 
a hard day's work chopping in the woods, and after supper 
laid down to rest on the couch, when almost immediately I 
heard a voice with my inner ear, which kept saying to me : 
" Get up and write to M. W." I was so weary and so void of 
anything to write that I hesitated for a good while, but finding 
I could not rest I arose, went to my desk, took out the paper 
and picked up the pen, and then mentally asked the question : 
What shall I write to her? when, as in an instant, I was in 



Ministry and Travels 151 

spirit transported to her home hundreds of miles away, and into 
which I had never been. I saw her as I entered washing dishes, 
which she soon completed. She was cheerful before the family, 
but as soon as she had completed her task I saw her go into 
the hall up the stairs, turn to the right and enter the bedroom, 
and immediately burst into tears. Then I saw her lying on the 
bed weeping. I then became conscious I was sitting at my desk 
with pen in hand to write to her, and the impression came she 
is under an apprehension that it will be right for her to make 
a religious visit, but she is not fully satisfied that it is a Divine 
command, and desires that some outward testimony shall be given 
her that her impressions are correct. Write to her what thou hast 
seen in mental vision ; tell her the call is a correct one, that if she 
yields she will be preserved in health and will return to her home 
with sheaves of peace. I wrote as I felt the Divine Spirit was 
dictating to me, and mailed the letter ; but the next day I was a 
good deal troubled. The question would arise, suppose this is 
all imagination? What a depressing effect it will have upon 
her; but again would come the assurance that I was right and 
I awaited a return messenger with no little anxiety. But as 
soon as the mail could bring an answer it came confirming my 
feelings, saying she had not opened her condition to any human 
being, but under the evidence given which she was seeking for 
she should lay the matter before her friends, which she did, 
performed the service and returned with rejoicing, and for nearly 
two years did I keep so close to this dear sister that when a 
requisition to go from home was made to her it was almost 
as directly made known to me, and I impressed to write and 
encourage her. Then I wrote to her, saying she could now walk 
without my support, and this would not be permitted any longer, 
and it never has been since. I had, prior to this experience, 
been frequently led to write to persons at a distance and open 
to them their conditions of mind to encourage them to the per- 
formance of some mission or be a comfort under some conditions 
of doubt, but this was my first experience in which it was given 



152 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

me to see a person in a house in which I had never been, and 
when I did go, some three years afterwards, the part of the 
house in which I was in spirit was as familiar to me as though 
I had a long acquaintance with it. 

In the summer of 1874 I again obtained the consent of my 
friends to visit Scipio Quarterly Meeting and appoint some 
meetings within its limits, and it was when obtaining this minute 
that the circumstance occurred which brought the trouble, in 
which I was involved with the minister referred to, to a crisis. 
It had been agreed between us, through the intercessions of the 
elders, that all of the past should be dropped and that we would 
strive to live in harmony. After I had asked for my minute and 
general consent had been given on both sides of the house and 
the clerk had made his minute liberating me, and the meeting 
w r as about to adjourn, he arose and stated that he did not give 
his consent to my having a minute, for he had no unity with 
it, and further said he had been pursued as unrelentingly as by 
a bloodhound. Fortunately no reply was made and the meeting 
immediately adjourned. The following First day afternoon, 
one of the elders whom I clearly loved and with whom I was 
connected by marriage, came to me, and after a little conversa- 
tion said : " John, suppose the elders were to say to thee not 
to go on that journey, what will thee do?" I sat a moment in 
quiet, for I was taken somewhat by surprise, and then answered : 
" I should not pay any attention to it. It is not within your 
province. I have been liberated by the Monthly Meeting and 
am amenable to it and not to you. But if you feel uneasy about 
my going, as there will be another Monthly Meeting before I 
go, you can lay it before that meeting, and if it repeals its 
action I will respect it ; not otherwise." He seemed very tender 
and it was not brought before the meeting. Soon after I re- 
turned from this visit our Preparative Meeting of Ministers and 
Elders occurred, and the answer to the query, whether we were 
in love and unity with each other, was strongly marked in con- 
sequence of his course regarding my minute. This occasioned 



Ministry and Travels 153 

much exercise, during which some considerable reflection was 
made upon me, when I arose and said I hoped the discussion 
would now cease, and when the business is concluded I had a 
proposition to make in relation to the subject under discussion. 
The meeting then concluded its routine business. I then stated 
to the meeting what had occurred at the Monthly Meeting and 
that I had been further informed that one of the ministers 
present had had an interview with the Friend (he was not 
present at the meeting) , and that it took him an hour to narrate 
the causes for grievance he had against me, and that if these 
statements were true it made of me one of the deepest of hypo- 
crites. Now I propose that this meeting call an extra session of 
all its members and have the Friend state to it these grounds of 
grievance, and if I could not satisfactorily explain each and all 
of them to all present I would make such acknowledgments to 
the individual and to the meeting which they might demand. 

The proposition was adopted and that evening set for the 
meeting. We met at the time appointed, and after waiting in 
silence awhile for the clerk, who was a timid man, to open the 
subject I arose and made the same statement I had made in the 
afternoon meeting. Almost immediately on taking my seat 
the minister to whom I had referred in the afternoon as having 
had an interview with the Friend, said, " We do not want any 
statements, but want these Friends to drop the subject and live 
in harmony with each other," to which another friend assented. I 
replied I had tried that without effect. I had been endeavoring 
to learn wherein I had offended, but could get no definite answer, 
and I wanted the matter settled then. The friend then arose 
and said he had no explanations to make, for he had that day, 
just before our meeting met, written his resignation and would 
present it to the Monthly Meeting on the morrow. This led to a 
long and earnest labor to induce him not to take such a step, 
but without avail. He was unyielding to the last degree. I 
then said to the meeting : " If the Friend takes this course I 
want to know what my standing is with you. Must I close my 



154 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

mouth in the ministry, or may I be at liberty to speak in our 
own meetings and refrain from traveling" in the service of the 
Master? and I want an expression from every member present, 
and shall insist upon it." This brought the meeting into a solemn 
quiet which lasted for some time, when the minister who objected 
to any statement of the grievances said : " John has done all 
that can be asked of him," to which each minister and elder 
present, except the Friend referred to, gave an unqualified as- 
sent. This cleared me and put me on the right footing. The Friend 
resigned, and so far as the meeting's action was concerned closed 
the trouble, though its effects were felt for a long time 
afterward. 

In the fall of 1876 my wife and self attended Baltimore Yearly 
Meeting as delegates to the convention of the Seven Yearly Meet- 
ings on Indian Affairs, and took in the Centennial Exposition on 
the way. Having no especial concern to appoint meetings we 
did not ask for a minute, but while on our way found there was 
likely to be some considerable service required of me, so on our ar- 
rival Second day noon, at the opening of the afternoon session, 
I gave to Friends the reason why I was there without a minute 
and was given a hearty welcome and asked to feel myself at 
home. At this time some members of the meeting were very 
particular about ministers coming among them without a minute 
and rather harsh in their treatment of the subject. The next 
morning I felt a strong drawing to pay a visit to the women's 
meeting and was liberated to do so, but as soon as I had gone 
into the meeting the question was raised that it was out of order 
and establishing a dangerous precedent to thus give me, who 
was there without a minute, such a permission as had been 
granted me. When in the women's meeting I was closely led to 
address a number of states, and the meeting was a deeply bap- 
tizing season and evidently owned by the Master. Between 
meetings I was informed of what had taken place during my 
absence, and meeting one who had taken a prominently active 
part in the discussion, I told him I was sorry they had gotten so 



Ministry and Travels 155 

out of order in the meeting that morning, first, to discuss such 
a subject when I was not present, and next, that I was perfectly 
in order as the discipline of my yearly meeting gave me the 
liberty to appoint meetings while away from home in its service ; 
I was here on an errand for the meeting and had the consent 
of your meeting and was therefore in order. I mention this 
circumstance to show that we can insist too strongly on points 
of order in an improper manner. We had several parlor 
Friends' meetings while in the city, and a large one was called 
at C. Blackburn's, but just as they were gathering a telegram 
was handed me, stating that my father, who was ill, was worse 
and wanted me to return at once. So I had but little time with 
them, and with a mind somewhat disturbed by the message it 
was not very satisfactory, though, when I arrived at home, I 
found these fears were groundless — he was much better. 

I came again for a few days to attend the convention on 
Indian Affairs in the fall of 1877, and this time felt drawn to 
have a meeting with the Friends at the Mansion House. A great 
number gathered, filling the parlors and the halls. I addressed, 
I believe, some thirteen different conditions. One or two others 
spoke, and one of them attempted to break the meeting, but no 
one moved. I was then brought into a close sympathy with a 
mother who had lost an only son and who was mourning at her 
lot and questioning the goodness of the Lord in taking away 
the staff upon which she was leaning. While I was speaking I 
noticed a woman near me weeping and sobbing. I gave some 
words of counsel .and comfort, then closed the meeting, 
when this woman came to me and said, " Thee used 
the very words I had in my mind, and thee has been a com- 
fort to me." I subsequently learned that she had kept her trouble 
so before her as to make herself burdensome to her friends, but 
after this she became calm and reconciled and for many years 
after, when I met with any who were present at that meeting, 
they would recall it, as it had made so deep an impression on 
their minds. 



156 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

The winter following this visit was closely occupied with the 
care of my dear father, who grew weaker, but continued on 
until the Ninth month, 1877, when, after the most keen and 
intense suffering, he passed from earth to a brighter abode. 
Though of a strong, impulsive nature, and subject to an uneven 
temperament, yet underneath there was a kind and loving spirit. 
He was a man of excellent judgment, both in temporal and 
spiritual affairs, and was for a long time an elder in good 
standing. 

Soon after his death my wife and myself went to Pough- 
keepsie and New York to perform a mission which he had en- 
trusted to me, and to visit some of our relatives, it being the 
first visit, of a social character from home since I had entered 
the ministry. 

I had for the past five years, up to 1877, at times seen that a 
field of labor was awaiting me within Philadelphia Yearly Meet- 
ing, but the claims of business, the want of surplus means and 
the feeling that the time was not quite ripe for the presentation 
of that which would be given me to deliver had prevented my 
laying the matter before my friends, but on our return 
from Poughkeepsie the way seemed to open clearly and 
so we obtained a minute to attend all of the Quarterly 
Meetings in that Yearly Meeting, and to appoint meet- 
ings as way might open. The magnitude of the concern, 
the consciousness that my manner of presenting the truth 
as I saw it might arouse some opposition, and cause the 
more conservative elders to reprove me, all gave me a feeling 
of dread upon entering the work, but my faith that it was a right 
call and that my Heavenly Father would sustain me gave me the 
needed strength to go forward. So we commenced the service 
in the Western Quarter on the Eleventh of First month, 1878, our 
friend William Sharpless, of Philadelphia, having kindly 
mapped out our itinerary until we should reach that city, where 
we were to make his hospitable home our headquarters, and 
for the kindness bestowed upon us, the efficient aid rendered all 



Ministry and Travels 157 

through the visit by him and his dear wife, that mother in 
Israel, Sarah J. Sharpless, I shall ever be grateful while memory 
occupies her throne. 

Our service in this mission was close and searching, more 
particularly so in the meetings of ministers and elders, among 
whom I found a disposition to rest on what our forefathers had 
learned, and to block the way for the presentation of any new 
thought that did not, in their judgment, harmonize with the 
teachings of the past. And hence I found my hardest work in 
these meetings. The meetings for worship were usually large 
and I felt an openness, altogether unexpected, to receive what 
was given me to deliver, and though I gave fearlessly the mes- 
sage committed to me, I did not meet with any serious oppo- 
sition. 

At the Western Quarter, soon after I had commenced, I made 
a quotation from the Scriptures, and as I had not read it in some 
time I was conscious that I had not quoted it verbatim, but had 
given its substance, when I immediately felt that a minister 
among the women who sat near me closed her mental ear to the 
reception of what I might say further, as I saw she had 
allowed some prejudice to take possession of her mind before 
I came, though I did not know anything of this until it came to 
me while I was speaking. I immediately paused, stated what I 
saw, without indicating that I knew who it was, and opened be- 
fore her and the meeting the injustice and unfriendliness of 
such a course. I saw she understood it and became more open 
to receive my message. During the meeting for business I was 
drawn to visit the women's meeting, and during my testimony, 
she, with most of the meeting, was tendered to tears, and after the 
meeting met me with a loving and tender spirit. 

While attending the Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and 
Elders in Philadelphia my way for expression was entirely 
closed and I sat in deep travail of spirit throughout the meeting. 
Some disturbing element had been introduced and the discussion 
was prolonged, not always in the most kindly spirit. I prayed 



158 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

in secret that the storm might be stilled, and before the close a 
sweeter spirit prevailed. At its close a dear elder, whom I knew 
to be a good deal conservative in his views, came to me and said : 
" John, thou never preached a more powerful sermon in thy life 
than thou did to-day. I felt the travail of thy spirit and I have 
not words to express the encouragement it has been to me." 

When at Buck's Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and Elders 
I was brought under a deep exercise on account of their condition 
and waited until near the close of the meeting before speaking, 
in the hope as in Philadelphia the ministry of silent travail would 
be all that was required, but that would not avail ; so I told them 
that in my spiritual vision of them I had been reminded of that 
scriptural expression, " The life is more than meat and the body 
more than raiment," and I would add principles are more 
important than the practices that grow out of them, 
and I see that you who compose this meeting have 
made the meat of more importance than the life, the 
raiment, of more importance than the body, and the prac- 
tices of the fathers of our Society of more importance than the 
principles upon which these practices are founded, and the con- 
sequence is you are driving your young people away from you 
and then opened before them the necessity of pursuing a different 
course — and how to pursue it. As the meeting closed and as 
I was an almost total stranger among them, the greetings were 
cold and distant ; the feeling was as though I was surrounded 
by icebergs. The old Friend, a minister, by whose side I sat 
in the meeting, gave me the tip of his fingers as I presented my 
hand, and an elder came to me with a criticism about the over- 
coat I was wearing, because it was double-breasted, all of which 
thoroughly confirmed my convictions of their condition. 

When the meeting gathered the next morning, a prominent 
minister belonging to that Quarterly Meeting knelt in supplica- 
tion, in the course of which she made the most bitter personal 
attack upon me that I have ever encountered in my life. I 
could not help being sorry for her, and so strong was her feeling 



Ministry and Travels 159 

against me that she would never speak to me afterwards while 
she lived, though we met a number of times. I record this with 
an intense feeling of sorrow that any one occupying so prominent 
a position should so far forget the common amenities of human 
life and still claim to be a servant of the God of Love. 

I arose soon after and delivered a lengthy testimony, under 
which the meeting was baptized into a deep, tender feeling and 
a precious solemnity spread over us. I also visited the women's 
meeting, speaking to a number of states, and leaving them with 
the tears streaming down many a cheek, and when the meeting 
closed, the feeling was so different. The loving tenderness with 
which my hand was grasped by some who were so cold the day 
before evidenced they had acknowledged the power by whom I 
was commissioned. 

We held a number of meetings within that quarter, to all 
of which the old Friend, who sat beside me in the Meeting of 
Ministers and Elders, came, and at the close of the last meeting 
he bade me farewell with the tears coursing down his cheeks, 
and said he couldn't express the thankfulness he felt in having 
been permitted to listen to the presentation of the gospel truths 
I had given. 

During the course of this visit my friend, S. J. Sharpless, 
said to me one morning, on a clay in which we had no meeting 
appointed, " Will thee go with me to visit an invalid Friend 
to-day? " I said, " Certainly." So after dinner we went to see a 
Friend who had been very ill for sometime, and who was then 
very weak, and her recovery seemed to the outward observer to 
be extremely doubtful. She came down into the parlor to meet 
us, and I soon perceived with my spiritual eye that she was 
yearning for some comforting word. I was led to tell her that 
I saw that she would recover sufficiently to complete the work 
the Master had intended for her to do. I could not see that 
she would ever be a well woman, but that she would be able to 
accomplish the work. When we left the house dear Sarah said, 
I am so glad thee could leave such a message for her, for one 



160 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

of our ministers went to see her a few days ago and chided her 
for her hopefulness, and bade her set her house in order, for she 
should surely die and not live, and it had somewhat depressed her. 
This occasioned me no little exercise and anxiety as to which 
of us had the clearer vision. I was an entire stranger to the 
Friend and the other minister knew all about her, but after cir- 
cumstances proved the correctness of my impressions. She did 
recover sufficiently to become a recorded and a valuable minister, 
and though never a strong woman, accomplished a good deal of 
service and lived for eighteen years afterward. 

I had purposely avoided attending the meeting at Spruce Street 
and hoped to be relieved from attending it altogether. Perhaps this 
was owing to some prejudice, as soon after I entered upon this mis- 
sion Sunderland P. Gardner was in this vicinity and at a meet- 
ing there was openly opposed by a prominent minister. 
Knowing that my views were in harmony with S. P. G/s, 
I naturally shrank from such a spirit, but I found I could not 
avoid it, but left it to be the concluding meeting in the service. 
A very large meeting gathered. The house was filled and every 
seat occupied, but the power of the Lord raised me above every 
opposing spirit and I delivered my message with fearlessness, 
and yet with tenderness. As the meeting neared the close, dear 
E. Paxson delivered a touching and tender resume of my work 
among them, and as it closed one Friend, a minister, said, thou 
hast not only held out to the end, but has given us the best wine 
at the last of the feast — and those Friends from whom I had ex- 
pected to meet the opposition came to me and the one who had 
opposed S. P. G. said : I have enjoyed this meeting and am 
sorry not to have seen more of thee during this visit ; and the 
other said, I got out of a sick bed in opposition to the request of 
my family to come to this meeting, and I am so glad I came 
for it has been a season of rejoicing to my spirit. Another Friend 
said to me: John, does thee know why thee has not met with 
the opposition thee expected during this visit? I replied, No. 
Well, I can tell thee. Thee gives us thy own ideas about things, 



Ministry and Travels 161 

but does not denounce those held by others, and in this way 
disarms all opposition. 

We returned to our home bearing our sheaves of peace with 
thankful hearts that we had been able to perform the mission, 
we hoped, to the honor of Him who called us to the work. 
We had been absent ten weeks and were present at ioo meetings, 
in all of which but one I had borne testimony. 

The year of 1879 was spent mostly at and about home. We 
were rebuilding our house that year, and for the first time since 
1837 I was absent from our Yearly Meeting, as I could not con- 
sistently leave my family in the exposed condition they were 
while repairing the house. 

In the fall of 1881 my wife and I again attended Baltimore 
Yearly Meeting, and went to Sandy Spring for the first time, and 
had a meeting at Washington. During the two following years 
we were mostly at home — except attending to the frequent calls 
for funerals, which occupied a good deal of time and occasioned 
much travel, at one of which I was quite singularly led. 
An old man had been killed by the falling of a tree while he 
was in the woods superintending his men. He was not a member 
of our religious Society, but his family desired some prominent 
Friend should be sent for, and so his brother-in-law telegraphed 
to me. On arriving at the house of the brother-in-law I felt a check 
against enquiring anything about the man, though on the way to 
his home he had told me how he met his death and why I had been 
sent for. When the time of the funeral arrived and we were gath- 
ered, I arose and said, before I enter upon the deliverance of 
my special message to the people, I feel impressed to give a 
description of the character of the deceased, though I have 
never known him, nor have I enquired anything about him since 
I came to the neighborhood and know therefore nothing but 
what has been impressed on my mind since I came into the house. 
I then described minutely his habits of life in his home and in 
the business world. He had been loving and kind, true and 
upright in all these relations, and although he had never united 

11 



162 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

with any church his life had been lived from a true Christian 
principle, and then made his life the text of the discourse which 
followed. I was listened to with deep attention and an 
unusual solemnity settled over the assembled company. After 
we had started from the house for the interment, as I rode with 
the brother-in-law, he turned to me and said, I have known that 
man all my life, and yet I could not have described his character 
so accurately as you did. It seems strange to me how you could 
know so clearly, for all you said is strictly true. When I was 
about to leave for home he said, I want you to go a little early 
and make a call on a gentleman in the town, who was the lead- 
ing citizen and a prominent member of the Methodist Church. 
So I accepted the proposal, and after finding him we went to 
his house for a little talk. He turned to me abruptly and asked : 
" How did you know so accurately the character of that man ? " 
I said only by the impression received at that time, which we 
Friends call Divine Revelation. He sat for a few moments, ap- 
parently in a deep study, and then said: "It is strange. We 
have tried to get him into the church, and some have charged 
him with infidelity ; but you have made him out a Christian and 
I will have to acknowledge you are right, but I never saw it in 
that light before. Strange, strange." And we parted under a 
deep feeling of tenderness. 

On another occasion I was called to the city of Cleveland, 
to the funeral of an old man who was a member of our Society 
and had gone there to live with his children, two of whom had 
married wives who were members of the Orthodox branch, and 
one granddaughter had married a minister among them. 

On arriving there the evening before the funeral I also felt a 
check from making any enquiries about his last hours. While 
they were arranging the rooms for the funeral I felt impressed 
to go and look up a text in the Bible, which had been placed 
on a stand, and mark it so I could turn to it, which I did; and 
then after the company had gathered I arose and told them I 
must first describe the closing hours of our friend. Among the 



Ministry and Travels 163 

things I said were that efforts had been made to get him to 
acknowledge that he had been in error in his religious views, 
and he had replied that he had lived by them and was not afraid 
to die by them, and that the close was a peaceful and happy one, 
though I knew nothing about it save the feelings I had while 
I was speaking. I then took up the Bible and turned to the 
text and read it, and then remarked, as I laid it down, I believe 
in the truths contained in this book, but I do not accept all the 
interpretations of its texts that have been made by the theolo- 
gians and I am unwilling that any man or any set of men 
should interpret a single text in it and say I must believe it 
because they had so interpreted it. Nor did I ask any one to 
accept any explanation I might make because I made it, and 
then turned to my subject. A most profound attention was 
given to me, and as I closed I expected that two Orthodox min- 
isters present would follow me, but they remained quiet. After 
we had started for the cemetery one of the gentlemen in the 
carriage and one of the bearers said, " This is the first time I 
ever heard a ' Hicksite ' minister speak and I must confess I 
was not looking for a discourse in which I had so much accord 
from one. I am a member of the Orthodox Meeting here — be- 
came such at a revival a few years ago. Will thee be willing 
to give me a concise statement of thy belief in the Divinity of 
Christ ? " I said certainly. I then told him we did not acknowl- 
edge the person or humanity of Jesus to be divine, that was 
human like ourselves, but the Spirit through which that person 
spoke and worked was divine, the Spirit of God manifested in 
the humanity, and this constituted the divinity. Why, he said, 
that is my view of it, and if that is the view of your people 
you have been sadly misrepresented. He then asked me a num- 
ber of questions on other points, which I promptly answered, 
and as we parted he said, I am very glad I met thee. I shall 
have clearer ideas of your people than I have heretofore had. 
I forgot to mention in its place that as the meeting closed 
the two ministers came to me, one taking each hand, and simul- 






164 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

taneously said : " We must acknowledge that thee was inspired 
to-day." 

I think it will be best to mention here, before I go any fur- 
ther in the narrative, that I had, prior to this time, been occa- 
sionally drawn to read a chapter in the Bible when in the pulpits 
of other churches. As I found I could not get at the people in their 
prejudices against us until I did so, and also for several years 
I had been in the practice, when I went into those pulpits, to 
take the usual time for their meeting, letting the ministers, if 
present, conduct the meeting in their usual way and leaving me 
the time for the sermon. I found by this practice I reached 
more people, for the attendance was usually larger, and while 
they were conducting the service I had my time for communion 
with the Spirit. 

The year of 1884 was one of great trial and of great con- 
flict to me in my spiritual work. In the early spring, having 
no particular concern on my mind, my wife and I had planned 
a visit to our relations and friends in New York and its vicinity, and 
had arranged to leave home on the Eighth of the Fourth month. 
On Seventh day, the Fifth of the month, she arose a little earlier 
than usual to make some preparations for the journey, and when 
the breakfast hour arrived came in to waken me, which she did by 
putting her hands, which had been in cold water, playfully upon 
me, so full of life and good spirit was she, but while we were 
sitting at the breakfast table she suddenly put her hands to her 
head and said. " Oh, what a pain in my head." As she had been 
subject to neuralgic attacks I was not alarmed, but got her on 
the couch, and at her request applied some warm cloths to her 
head and got her feet into warm water, when she vomited and 
became easier. I then took her feet out of the water and was 
wiping them when she exclaimed again, " That pain has come 
again." As I looked up, I saw it was death. She gasped two or 
three times and all was over. I was alone with her, having sent 
the girl for help. The shock was indescribable, but I was calm 
and heard with my inner ear — " Thou hast, to comfort others, 



Ministry and Travels 165 

told them I would be with them in their hour of sorrow 
to uphold them ; now live it out." On the day we were to start 
on our journey for a pleasant visit we laid her form away, 
amid many tearful eyes, for she was universally beloved where- 
ever she was known ; and I was practically alone in the world — 
no parents, no brothers or sisters, no wife, no child — only the 
strong arm of my God to lean upon. An uncle and his family, 
who lived near in a house of mine, moved in to take charge of 
and care for the home ; but its light had gone out, and she who 
had stood by me in all the ups and downs of life had gone to a 
brighter home than ours. So, amid my sorrows, I could rejoice 
for her. While our life had been one of unbroken harmony, 
much had come into it from outside conditions that had clouded 
it with sorrow. 

In a little over two weeks I was summoned to attend the 
funeral of one who had been an inmate of my family for about 
two years and to whom both my wife and myself were warmly 
attached. She was married and lived about two miles from us, 
was present at the dear one's funeral, but was summoned away 
after about three days' illness, and her husband — not a Friend, 
nor was she — sent special word for me to conduct the funeral. 
It seemed to me more than my human nature could bear, and 
I told the messenger I did not see how I could. He replied : 
Her husband said to tell me he could not take no for an answer. 
So I replied : I will come, trusting the needed strength would 
be given. It was an occasion that will never be forgotten by 
those who were present. Their sympathy for me, as all knew 
what I had been passing through, made them tender and their 
hearts were open to receive my testimony. My voice trembled 
with the struggle for control and was full of pathos, so that the 
tears flowed from the eyes of men unused to weep. When all 
was over and I settled down in my lonely home I found I had 
received an unexpected strength to bear my allotment and 
a sweeter spirit of resignation seemed resting upon me. Before 
the close of that week another summons to a funeral came and 



1 66 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

this time to that of Martha Travilla, near 400 miles away. I 
had known she was nearing the close and in response to a re- 
quest of the family received before my loved one was called 
away had said I would come to them when the hour came. 
When the telegram came and was answered, there came an im- 
pression to attend Concord Quarterly Meeting and some other 
quarters before Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and also New York 
Yearly Meeting, and the Monthly Meeting occurring the next 
day — giving me time to attend it and get to the funeral, I laid 
the matter before my friends and obtained the necessary minute. 

Of this visit I can say but little save that it was a deeply in- 
teresting one and the peculiar circumstances under which it was 
undertaken seemed to open the hearts of all who knew me and 
rendered the service more easy. The being required to labor 
for others, to carry comfort to many other sorrowing hearts who, 
like myself, had been bereft of companions, as I met seven of 
those who had parted with their wives within the past three months 
and in whose homes we had been entertained six years before, 
all seemed to bring just the consolation and strength my bruised 
and bleeding heart needed, and I came home strengthened. 

I had for several years felt that when the proper time came 
I would have to visit the Western Yearly Meetings, and it 
opened to me that this would be the right time. I was at liberty, 
so far as my outward affairs were concerned, and I could go 
thus early in my bereavement without subjecting myself to any 
suspicion that I was actuated by any sinister or concealed 
motives, for I soon saw that my steps must be very circumspect 
if I wished to avoid undue and improper criticism. 

So in accordance therewith I obtained a minute to attend Illi- 
nois and Indiana Yearly Meetings, taking Pelham Half- Yearly 
Meeting, held at Lobo, Canada, on my way, and making a brief 
stop at Chicago. 

While attending Illinois Yearly Meeting we held a meeting 
at the meeting-house on Second day evening for young people — 



Ministry and Travels 167 

in place of a parlor meeting, as it was thought there was no 
parlor large enough to hold those who would come. 

As we started for the meeting I had a peculiar experience. I 
suddenly lost all power to think upon any subject. Nothing the 
eye rested on outwardly seemed to convey any impression to the 
brain. The mental activity appeared to have come to 
a stand-still, the mind a blank. It is almost impossible to con- 
vey the feeling endured to another. It was not suffering, but 
an entire stripping, and in this state we arrived at the meeting-house. 
While I was in this condition I took my seat and the Friend who 
sat beside me suggested that the young people be invited to take 
the front seats, which I mechanically did. Then he arose and 
spoke a little while, but it made no impression on me as to 
whether it was appropriate or not. I heard it mechanically and 
that was all. The first conscious impression was, get up, go 
down on that lower step near to the young people, and tell them 
why the parlor meeting was called there, which I did, but said, 
1 have nothing yet for you. After standing a few minutes, 
though it seemed a good while to me, I had a sight of a state 
and the command was given to describe it, and then came an • 
other and another, until I stood there an hour and a half, speak- 
ing as rapidly as I could and be understood, until I believe every 
spiritual condition present had been described and appropriate 
counsel given, and when I closed there was scarcely any dry 
eyes in the room. I never in all my experience saw a congre- 
gation so melted. Many came to me in the course of the Yearly 
Meeting afterwards and said they would never forget that meet- 
ing, they had been comforted and encouraged as they never had 
been before. 

After closing my work there I went to Richmond, Indiana, 
and was entertained in the home of Benjamin Stratton. I had 
written to have an appointed meeting on a week-day evening 
prior to the Yearly Meeting, which was to be held at Waynesville, 
Ohio. When the meeting was held I was not a little disap- 



1 68 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

pointed to find it so small where I had expected a large one, but 
kept my own counsel. 

There was a family living in Richmond whom my wife and 
myself had met when attending New York Yearly Meeting in 
1869, we homing together at Thomas Foulke's, of whom they 
were distant relatives. They had a daughter who was single 
and to whom my wife and myself became strongly attached, and 
between whom and myself, on the part of my wife there had 
been kept up for a number of years an interesting and to me a 
valuable correspondence of an almost entirely religious char- 
acter, for she had a seeking mind and had evidently had a good 
deal of experience. I did not go to this home to stay during 
my stop in Richmond because I wished to avoid giving occasion 
for gossip, but I went to make them a friendly evening visit. 
As I came from their house and was walking along the street 
it suddenly flashed upon me that the reason why the meeting was 
so small at that place was that two friends had been there re- 
cently and the people were so disappointed they would not come 
again, and I must come back to Richmond after the yearly meet- 
ing. When I returned to B. Stratton's home I found a couple 
of Friends who had called to see me, and after chatting with 
them a little while I said : I have had a singular impression 
this evening while on my way home, and I then told them what 
it was, and as I was speaking I noticed the Friends exchanging 
glances. After I had told them what I felt, they said thee is 
right. Then I said I must come back again, and will be here 
the first day but one after Yearly Meeting, and you may give 
notice to that effect. 

At the close of the Yearly Meeting, and I had visited a number 
of meetings, I arrived in Richmond on the Seventh day morning 
preceding the time of my appointment of the meeting on First 
day, making my home with William C. and Anna Starr. Very 
soon after I arrived Ruth W. Horney, the mother of the family 
to which I alluded as visiting when there before, came in and 
requested that I should hold a parlor meeting at their home, as 



Ministry and Travels 169 

her husband could not get out to the meetings. After a mo- 
ment's thought I acceded to her request and in the evening a 
large number had gathered in their parlors, to whom I was led 
to speak very closely, describing a number of states pres- 
ent, and thought I had concluded, when I heard with my mental 
ear the question : Is there no message for me ? and I repeated 
the language, and said yes. Thou will have to part with one 
thee loves much sooner than thou hast any idea of, and then 
gave some further counsel ; and I subsequently learned that 
within a week she was summoned to the bedside of the husband 
of a dear sister, who soon passed away. After the meeting 
and I had a word or two for each who came to speak with 
me, and then the daughter of the family came and said she 
had been greatly comforted by my testimony, part of which 
she felt was for her directly. The family had been suffering 
from reverses of fortune and the daughter was now their 
main support and the burden was pressing heavily upon her. 
I said to her: I see that this heavy burden resting upon thee 
will soon be lifted, when, like a flash of lightning from a clear 
sky, came the impression : Yes, and it is for thee to lift it. I 
was astounded, but with it came an outflow of affection for her 
that it was with difficulty I could command my feelings. I was 
startled, as it was but a few months since I had parted with a 
precious companion ; and although I was lonely, I knew the world 
would misjudge me and make unfavorable comments. I was 
enabled, however, to keep my composure and leave them in entire 
ignorance of my feelings. 

The meetings the next day were largely attended and were 
baptizing seasons. A little circumstance had occurred at the 
First day School Association at Yearly Meeting time, in which 
one of the ministers residing at Richmond had made a rather 
impassioned reply to some remarks of mine about the study of 
the Scriptures, stating there was no other rule for us to be 
guided by but them. As the meeting in the evening closed he 
came to me and threw his arms about my neck and said, while 
the tears were flowing : I was wrong. Forgive me for what I 



170 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

said in reply to thee. So I turned my face homeward with the 
feeling that I had done the Master's will as faithfully as I could, 
and a sweet peaceful covering was over my spirit, even as I 
entered my darkened home. 

After being home a little while, one day, while I was resting 
in the hammock and thinking over the late visit, there came 
a command, Get up, go in the house, and with thy pen write a 
proposal of marriage to thy friend, Eliza V. Horney. I struggled 
with it. I reasoned with it, but could not put it aside. So in 
obedience to the feeling, which was but an echo of the affection 
I felt for her — for I had long had that in one form — I wrote 
to her my feeling and offering her my hand and my wounded 
heart. I sealed the letter, put it in my pocket. I was expecting 
to go the next day to attend the funeral of a dear friend, who had 
lived some twenty miles away — who was sick when I left home and 
whose great desire was to live until my return, so I could be pres- 
ent at his funeral — which wish was granted him, as he lived about 
a week afterward. While on my way to the funeral I had 
to pass a post office about half of the way there. As I neared it 
there came a strong impression, as of a voice speaking to me, 
" Mail that letter, or I will not give thee any service to-day." Sc 
I mailed it with a peaceful heart ; and as my proposal was 
accepted in a proper time, we were married, and our union has 
been a blessed one indeed. Not the slightest jar has occurred; 
and, like my first companion, she has been a true elder to me, a 
wise counsellor and a fitting companion to me in my labors, both 
from a literary and spiritual standpoint. I have penned this 
minutely, to show to the reader that in so important a matter 
as marriage, and particularly in a second one, it is safe to rely 
upon the guidance of the Divine Spirit, and when it directs and 
we follow all will work together for good. 

We were married on the Twenty-fourth of the Ninth month, 
1885. In the spring of 1886 we attended the Yearly Meeting in 
Philadelphia, and a day or two after our return we received word 
of the death of Eliza's father, and went immediately to Richmond 



Ministry and Travels 171 

to the funeral, and brought her mother home with us, and she 
continued to reside with us until her death, adding to the enjoy- 
ment of our home life by her genial and loving disposition. 
Our intercourse was always marked by a warmth of affection 
which approached nearer to the feeling I had for my own 
mother than anything I had known since her death, and I be- 
lieve the feeling was reciprocal. * * * * 

In the spring of 1888 we had a minute to attend New York 
Yearly Meeting, and made a visit on Long Island and went to 
our Yearly Meeting at Bloomfield, Ontario, with no especial inci- 
dent worthy of notice. 

* * * * In the summer of 1886 we had a minute to attend 
Fairfax Quarterly Meeting, held at Goose Creek, and found 
them in a very unsettled state, owing to attempts on the part 
of the Orthodox to convert our members to their faith. Had 
much service of a close nature, yet calculated to allay the ex- 
citement and hold our own membership in steadiness, and, I 
think, was to some extent successful. The truth, as I saw it, 
upon these vexing controversial questions was clearly set forth, 
and in some private conversation and in parlor meetings counsel 
was given which was acknowledged by some to have met their 
questionings and satisfied their longings. 

In the fall of 1889 I again attended Baltimore Yearly Meeting 
in company with my wife and her mother, and also attended Balti- 
more Quarterly Meeting, at Fallston. I found a good deal of 
service in both meetings which appeared to be satisfactory to 
Friends. At this time I was approached by some friends in Balti- 
more and requested to think about coming to reside among them, 
to which I laughingly replied, " It was a question of how to get 
my bread and butter," as I could not then see my way clear and 
had not seriously thought of making any change, but this aroused 
thoughts upon the subject as to whether it would be a proper move 
or not. My former visits to Baltimore and the kind reception 
I had received together with the feeling that there was a reciprocal 



172 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

congeniality upon religious questions decided me, if I ever made 
any such change, it would be my choice to come to Baltimore. 

In the spring of 1890 I found an exercise resting upon me to 
attend Illinois Yearly Meeting and visit the meetings comprising 
it, and look up some of the isolated friends residing within the 
limits of that meeting, and as way was made for it from a 
pecuniary standpoint, I laid the matter before my friends and re- 
ceived their sanction and encouragement therein. So we left 
home in time to reach the Yearly Meeting. After which we first 
attended all the meetings in Illinois except East Jordan and Chi- 
cago, leaving them for our return. In some of these meetings 
I found much close work, but when I had any meetings among 
other people great openness was witnessed and a willingness to 
hear the truth as I held it. At one meeting in Fulton county, 
Illinois, held in the evening, I rose with the text " As in Adam all 
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," and said I had felt 
on sitting down among them that some one present was very 
desirous to hear that text explained. And after meeting a man 
came to me and said, " When I came to church to-night I hoped 
that text would be explained, for I had bothered over it a good 
deal, but could not get any satisfactory explanation, and when 
you rose and quoted it I thought now I will get what I want, and 
I have. You have explained it to my entire satisfaction." 

We had a meeting at Kankakee, Illinois, in the Presbyterian 
house. There had never been a Friends' meeting in the town 
before, and their ideas of Friends were very crude. One friend 
resided there who was a distant relative of Eliza's, and whose 
daughter was a member of the church, had visited us in our own 
home during the summer and through whom we gained admis- 
sion to the church. On getting to the meeting place we were 
met at the door by the minister in a very cordial manner. As 
he walked down the aisle with me he said, " Do not feel yourself 
trammelled, but give us just the message the Lord has commis- 
sioned you to give." Many came out of curiosity, but were very 
attentive as I opened the subject given me and many greeted 



Ministry and Travels 173 

me at the close very warmly, and the minister thanked me for 
coming, saying, " I have not only been deeply interested in your 
discourse, but much instructed." 

We went into Iowa, first to Mt. Pleasant, and were entertained 
by Bennett Walters and wife very kindly, but I found her too 
much wrapped in faith cure to be a very genial companion. We 
called on Joseph Dugdale ; had expected to have been entertained 
there, but by some misunderstanding were not. At Prairie Grove 
we held several meetings in succession, each one showing an in- 
creased interest and attendance over the others, and confirming 
the thought I had previously had, that it would be better if our 
ministers who have the power to interest people could spend more 
time in each neighborhood better results would be secured, and 
yet I know this would require great care, for all are not fitted 
for such a work. 

At West Liberty we found great openness among the Meth- 
odists, holding a union meeting in their house on First day even- 
ing, which was very largely attended by all classes of Protestant 
professors, some Wilbur friends being present, though I was in- 
formed it was contrary to their discipline. Friends desiring an- 
other meeting at first appointed it in their own house, but when 
they notified the Methodist minister he said, " That will not do, 
your house will not hold half of the people that will want to come 
so come to our house," and we went there a second time. At the 
close of this meeting the minister came to me with his eyes full 
of tears and said, " Brother, I have enjoyed these meetings more 
than I can tell you, and if you ever come where I am again T 
want you to feel you have a church home with me," and so we 
parted as brothers in Christ, though known by different names. 
Some of our meetings in Nebraska were seasons of deep baptism, 
but of great spiritual enjoyment. Sometimes I would be led to 
expound doctrines and sometimes to open the spiritual condition 
of those assembled. We went as far west as Ellis, Kansas, where 
we had an interesting experience. Our friend, Daniel Griest, had 
endeavored to make arrangements for a morning meeting, one in 



174 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

the afternoon and one in the evening, but had not succeeded about 
the morning meeting when we arrived, as it was the Methodist 
Quarterly Meeting time, but before First day came the minister 
sent an invitation for us to come to the meeting and take part 
in the exercises, and feeling at liberty to do so we went, and 
as we went in he came forward and greeted us warmly and said, 
" Brother, I will leave time for you to speak as long as you wish," 
and we had an interesting meeting. In the afternoon we held a 
meeting in a Grand Army hall, as Daniel said there were some in 
the place that would not go to the churches because they did not 
believe in paying the ministers, nor accept their theology, and he 
thought they would come to the hall, and in this he proved to be 
correct. After the meeting one man came to me, and he was 
one who never went to the church, though his wife was a mem- 
ber, and said to me, " That was straight goods," and afterwards 
sent word to me if I would settle in Ellis they would furnish the 
hall and warm and light it free of expense to us. I also attended 
a meeting in a school house some nine miles north of Ellis, and it 
was well filled. As I opened the truth in its simplicity and was 
led to explain a number of texts ordinarily thought to be mys- 
terious, they listened with eagerness, and after meeting one man, 
who Daniel said had been making the Bible an especial study, told 
him he never had so clear an idea of Christianity before. At 
Arkansas City we had a meeting in the Baptist house, which 
was the largest in the city, to which all the ministers in the place 
came, except possibly the Catholic. I found great openness as I 
unfolded my idea of a practical Christianity, and at the close all 
the ministers came in a body and greeted me warmly and bade 
me God-speed in my work, saying, " We want more of such prac- 
tical sermons." At Chicago on our return we were kindly enter- 
tained by Jonathan Plummer and wife and had for that place an 
unusually large audience, and as Jonathan afterwards said, " He 
doubted if there was an audience in the city of more enlightened 
men and of closer critics than were there," and yet as many took 
my hand no one had aught to say but that they were satisfied. 



Ministry and Travels 175 

As this concluded our visit, on which we had been absent from 
home for ten weeks, I could but feel we had a great deal to be 
thankful for, not only for being preserved in health but for the 
abundance with which the Lord had furnished us to hand to the 
people, and for which He gave so bounteous a blessing, and while 
our hearts were overflowing with joy for these blessings the angel 
of sorrow was hovering near, for the day after our return our 
beloved mother who met us was stricken down with a strangulated 
hernia, which it became impossible to reduce by manipulation and 
we had to resort to an operation, which she was unable to survive, 
and so the angel of death again invaded our home bearing hence 
another purified spirit to join the loved ones gone before. We 
took the remains back to Richmond, when after a deeply sol- 
emnizing season we laid them beside the husband of her choice in 
her young life. 

The preceding winter I went to New York with a minute to at- 
tend Westbury Quarterly Meeting, and while there I felt drawn 
to hold a number of parlor meetings, in which I was led to take 
an unusual course. I would take one subject like " Inspiration,'' 
and give my views upon it and then have those assembled ask me 
any questions on that topic they desired to have answered. These 
proved very interesting meetings and very instructive to those 
asking questions as well as to myself, although it was an ex- 
tremely critical position to place myself in and it was a marvel 
to me how I could divine what was wanted before the question 
was fully asked and how quickly the answer was ready without 
the slightest hesitation. I know I could not have done it of my 
own strength and ability. 

In the Second month, 1891, my wife and myself visited Pelham 
Half-Yearly Meeting at Lobo and made a general social visit to 
each family there to much satisfaction, and in the Fifth month, 
in the continuance of the service under the same minute we at- 
tended Canada Half-Yearly Meeting at Pickering, Ontario, going 
first to Toronto and holding two meetings there on First day in 
Methodist houses — one of them in the Metropolitan, the largest 



176 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

house belonging to that denomination, and here a little incident 
occurred that is worthy of note. We learned on our arrival on 
Seventh day that the minister at the Metropolitan, who had ex- 
pected to be absent, and which opened the way for my attendance 
at his church, had learned that I did not belong to the Orthodox 
branch and was not going to admit me into the church, but the 
matter was arranged by those higher in authority than himself 
so we had a large meeting. After meeting word was brought me 
that a lady in the aisle wished to see me, and when I reached her 
she said, " I am the wife of the minister here and I want to tell 
you how much I have enjoyed your sermon. It was practical re- 
ligion, and I thank you for coming among us." And thus I be- 
lieve another prejudice was removed. 

When we arrived in the vicinity of where the Half- Yearly 
Meeting was to be held the friend and elder at whose house we 
were entertained asked me the next morning after our arrival, 
" What plans I had in view." After I had told what there was in 
view in our own meeting-house, I said, " I want to get into that 
Methodist meeting-house in Whitby." The members of this meet- 
ing had in 1857 or '58, in consequence of a strong denunciatory 
sermon preached there by one of our ministers, put a resolution 
on their minutes never to grant the house to one of our ministers 
again. My friend replied, " Thou knowest about that resolution? " 
■ Yes," I said, " but I want to remove that prejudice and that is 
part of my mission here." He said, " I doubt thy being able to 
accomplish it." ' Well," I replied " let us go and see what we 
can do." So we drove to the town and went at once to 
the home of Sherman Brown, who had once been a member with 
us, but who was now a member of the Methodist church. We had 
been and were still close friends and I thought as he knew me we 
might accomplish our mission through him. 

He told us he had been trying to get that resolution rescinded ; 
that he had refused to pay anything for the salary of the minister 
while that remained, and he was one of the wealthiest members 
they had, but thus far without avail, but suggested that we go and 



Ministry and Travels 177 

have a talk with the minister, so we went and found an open, 
courteous gentleman. After I had opened my concern, telling 
him I did not want the house for a special meeting but only the 
liberty to occupy the time usually devoted to the sermon in the 
evening meeting. He then asked me what I wanted to come 
into their house for, was it to air my peculiar theology or was it 
to bring a purely gospel message to the people. I told him that 
was my sole object. He replied to that, " I have no objection, and 
you shall have the opportunity," and remarked further, " If we 
ministers would strive as hard to find in what we agree instead of 
in what we disagree we and the world would be better for it," to 
which I gave my most hearty assent. 

It was so arranged, but the next day the trustees heard what 
had taken place and I learned that a somewhat stormy interview 
with the minister followed, but he was firm, telling them he was 
responsible for what was said in that pulpit and he had given me 
his word that I might speak there and he would not recall it. 
When First day evening came the house was filled, as every seat 
appeared to be occupied. Curiosity had been aroused as to 
what would be the outcome. When the time arrived for the 
sermon he gave me a nice introduction to the people and I took 
for my text the eleventh commandment, " Love one another as I 
have loved you," and enlarged upon it for about an hour. As 
soon as I sat down he stepped to the desk and said, " Let us pray," 
and uttered a sweet invocation of thankfulness for the message 
that had been delivered and then after the customary hymn, 
the doxology, dismissed the congregation, and turning to 
me said, " God bless you, my brother, you were truly inspired 
to-night, for your sermon was specially adapted to the needs of 
this congregation, and if ever you come where I am you will be 
welcome to speak in a church over which I am pastor, either 
morning or evening." And the following week the papers of the 
place had a full account of the meeting under the title of " The 
Love Feast at the Methodist Church." I have never learned 
whether the obnoxious resolution was ever rescinded, but I know 

12 



178 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

its doors are open to me. This has been a large part of my 
mission among other people, to remove these prejudices and to 
prove that we are not a people to be afraid of as spreading prin- 
ciples antagonistic to a pure Christianity. We then went on and 
attended the Yearly Meeting, homing at Isaac Wilson's, in com- 
pany with M. Walton and others and having an enjoyable time, 
closing our stay there with a parlor meeting that will be long re- 
membered. 

It may not be out of place here to refer to a meeting I had the 
first time I visited Bloomfield, and before the Yearly Meeting was 
held there. We held the meeting in the Methodist house, al- 
though there was a good deal of prejudice against us in that vicin- 
ity, as some of the most stirring events and much that was cen- 
surable from the Christian standpoint had occurred in that neigh- 
borhood during the separation of 1828, and reports had been in- 
dustriously circulated that we had discarded the Bible and did 
not believe in it. When the meeting was settled, I stepped up 
to the desk and opened the Bible and read the third chapter of 
James' Epistle, and took up my text, regarding the resurrection, 
and showed it to have an application to the restoration of the 
sinner to an acceptance with the Father. The meeting closed 
under a sweet feeling and the members of the church expressed 
their satisfaction. But I had gone out of the usual course in read- 
ing the Scriptures in a Friends meeting, and I felt that I would 
be sharply criticized for it. So I said to Isaac Wilson, " If any 
one says anything about my reading to-night just ask them if there 
is anything in the principles of Friends that would debar one 
moved by the spirit for the occasion from reading one or more 
chapters of the Bible in a religious meeting." I learned after- 
ward that the criticism was made and as the answer I left was 
given it was allayed. The next time I was there was at the 
Yearly Meeting in 1882, and the friend with whom we were 
homing, who had been a member of the Orthodox branch, said 
to me one evening, " John, when thee was here before and had 
the meeting in the Methodist house I was much surprised at thy 



Ministry and Travels 179 

reading that chapter, but when thee enforced its precepts with so 
much power my prejudice was taken away, but now I can say to 
thee that that circumstance has done more to destroy the prejudice 
against you in this community, than all else that has oc- 
curred since the separation," and here I had an evidence that by 
being true to the impression made at the time it was the only 
proper course to pursue even if it did lead into something different 
from what our fathers were accustomed to do. 

After our return from the Yearly Meeting in 189 1, one day while 
going to Rochester on business I found my attention very closely 
drawn to the propriety of making a change in my location, and it 
occupied all my thoughts during the time not occupied with busi- 
ness until I was nearing my home, when my mind became settled 
in the conviction that if the way opened to remove either to Balti- 
more or New York, the first-named city being the first choice, I 
would entertain it, so that when I arrived at home I told my 
dear wife that I was now ready to leave the farm and go to 
either of the above named cities, but we would await develop- 
ments. 

I had for some time felt that a labor awaited me in Baltimore, 
so in the Seventh month I obtained a minute to attend Baltimore 
Yearly Meeting and the meetings comprising it, upon which ser- 
vice we entered in the Eighth month, going first to Fairfax 
Quarterly Meeting and its constituent branches and then to Cen- 
ter Quarter and its constituent meetings, and then returned to 
our home to await the approaching Yearly Meeting. This we 
attended in its course and then went through the remainder of the 
meeting, occupying in all about twelve weeks. While in Balti- 
more we homed with J. J. Janney and his family, and during the 
week an invitation was again extended for us to settle in Balti- 
more. To which I replied, " All that was in the way was to 
obtain some business by which I could maintain myself and wife, 
for the income of the farm was not sufficient for that purpose, and 
I did not feel like selling it and investing the proceeds in any 
business with which I was not familiar, as I had seen too many 



180 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

cases of that kind during my life that had resulted disastrously." 
And there it was left. We went to Washington and Sandy 
Spring and Woodlawn and returned to Baltimore in about a week 
on our way to Menallen, and on our return were met with a 
message from J. J. Janney that he wanted to see me at his office, 
from which he took me to see Jonathan K. Taylor, who with 
Elisha Walker were the general agents of the Provident Life and 
Trust Company. Jonathan then made me a proposition to take 
the position of special or soliciting agent. After listening to his 
proposition I told him I would take it into consideration and de- 
cide on my return from Warrington Quarterly Meeting. After 
revolving the subject over and over and consulting with my dear 
companion we concluded to make the experiment for the ensuing 
six months and then we would be able to decide definitely, and I 
so informed Jonathan on my return. We then concluded our visit 
by attending Nottingham Quarterly Meeting and its several 
branches and returned to our home in the early part of Twelfth 
month to arrange for our contemplated removal for the winter to 
Baltimore. 

When I told my Mendon friends what we proposed to do all 
said, " We do not blame thee for seeking a wider sphere for ser- 
vice, but we shall miss you here more than we can tell." 

So early in the First month, 1892, we came on to Baltimore, 
finding a congenial home with J. J. Janney and family. As the 
spring approached, finding I had been fairly successful in my new 
business, we determined that it would be best to remove our mem- 
bership here. The winter had been passed pleasantly, so much 
generous hospitality was extended, so warm an appreciation of 
my public labors was given that we at once felt at home with 
them, and were made to feel that we had been rightly directed to 
make the change. We returned to our old home in time to 
attend the Yearly Meeting held at Fannington, at the close of 
which as I bade them farewell and told them I proposed to change 
my membership to Baltimore the scene was deeply affecting. I had 
for about forty years been closely identified with all its move- 



Ministry and Travels 181 

ments and for the past twenty been one of its counsellors, and it 
was harder parting than I had thought, and yet amid it all there 
was the conviction that the move was a right one. 

On our return to Baltimore in the fall we met a friend from 
Philadelphia who opened to me a concern he felt that the Eastern 
Yearly Meetings should be represented in Chicago during the ex- 
pected Exposition as there would undoubtedly be many strangers 
who would attend the meeting there and he thought I was the 
proper person to so represent them, and being at liberty and feel- 
ing a freedom to do so, we set about making the necessary ar- 
rangements to carry it into effect when the summer came. The 
winter was passed in Baltimore in much the same manner as the 
previous one only, if possible, there was a growing nearness of 
feeling from the religious and social standpoint. 

We arrived in Chicago the Seventh of Seventh month, 1893, and 
remained there for fourteen weeks. My wife had a brother liv- 
ing there, with whom we boarded during our stay, and we had a 
fine opportunity to view that grand exposition and to become 
familiar with its details as well as to enjoy the Religious Congress 
or Parliament of Religions and to take a small part in the special 
meeting of the Friends. Our impression of the Religious Con- 
gress was that it marked an era in which there was a commence- 
ment of breaking down the sectarian prejudices and partition 
walls that had kept the various professors of religion apart, and 
that the more liberal and harmonizing sentiments were 
largely in the majority, every paper or address which gave evi- 
dence of breadth of view and tolerance of opinion was heartily 
applauded, while the opposite was received in silence or but 
faintly cheered. 

In the First day morning* meetings I found much service which 
appeared to be acceptable. I had felt in going it would be 
a good opportunity for some meetings outside of our 
Society and that the openness to be expected from the fraternal 
gatherings would facilitate such a work, and I so informed the 
Friends there what I wished, but for some reason, the nature 






182 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

of which I can only conjecture, not an effort was made, as far as 
I could learn, by any members of that meeting to further my 
concern. I held two such meetings, to one of which I was in- 
vited by a minister who married a relation of my first wife and 
who had a charge in that city, and one which was arranged for by 
a member of Indiana Yearly Meeting, who was living in the city 
temporarily. I record this with a feeling of sadness, as it was 
the only instance in my labors as a minister that the members 
of the meeting visited had treated me with such coolness. I 
had reason to expect a different course from them, as after I had 
informed them of my proposed visit they had sent me, over the 
official signature of their clerk, a paper tendering me a warm 
welcome. I, however, kept my own counsel, did what I found 
to do and came away with a peaceful feeling that I had done what 
I could. We had some interesting incidents in meeting with 
Friends from different parts of the country, some who had not 
been to a Friends meeting in many years. One man came to me 
and said, " This is the first time I have heard a Friend speak for 
twenty years, and you have but little idea how much good it has 
done me. Why this meeting has been more to me than all that 
great show." A man and his daughter from Kentucky came to 
me and said, " They were members of the Society but had been so 
located as not to be able to attend a Friends' meeting in fifteen 
years, and I can scarcely find words to express my gratitude in 
being able to attend this meeting." It seemed to me that it was 
true when one was once indoctrinated with the practical views 
of the Friends regarding the Christian life and then moves away 
from among them, they realize more than ever what they are 
losing by not being able to mingle frequently in their religious 
meetings. 

I omitted to mention in its proper place that in the summer of 
1892 we attended the Conferences of the First-day Schools and 
Philanthropic Union, held at Lincoln, Loudon county, Virginia, in 
the Eighth month, which was a very interesting occasion and 
proved to be a season of awakened and awakening interest in 
our Society. After the close of the Conference we went to 



Ministry and Travels 183 

Menallen to attend Warrington Quarterly Meeting and then to 
Baltimore for the winter. 

In the early summer of 1894 we went to our former home in 
Mendon and remained in quiet there for nearly four months, al- 
though the conferences at Chappaqua were held during the time I 
found I had arrived at a state when my head and mental powers 
needed a rest, if I was to continue to be useful to the world, and 
so sought in the quiet of our country home that rest so much 
needed, only attending the First day meetings as they came in 
course, and speaking but little in them. By fall I felt much re- 
cruited and on our return to Baltimore found a service awaiting 
me to attend the Quarterly Meetings of Haddonfield and Salem, 
which we did to good satisfaction and a little later in the 
winter we went to Lower Merion and West Chester. My ser- 
mon at West Chester was sadly misrepresented in the Local News, 
and from it there grew much excitement during the summer and a 
long controversy in the papers. The papers were forwarded 
to me, but as I opened them and saw their purport I felt a stop 
from reading and so laid them aside, but I had heard enough 
from other sources to know that a condition existed which would 
lead me among them again and I did not want my mind 
biased by what might have appeared in the papers. 

In the summer of 1895 we attended Genesee Yearly Meeting 
and after that we had a minute to attend Fishing Creek Half- 
Yearly Meeting. These were seasons of much labor and in which 
great care was needed, as a minister was present at each meeting 
who was very pronounced in his views, leaning towards the 
Orthodox theology and I did not want to have any clashing with 
him. 

While at Fishing Creek we had two parlor meetings, one of 
which was held in the home of the friend where this minister was 
homing, and when the people gathered he arose and gave a 
tedious testimony of his experience and wanted the young people 
to make this a testimony meeting, but this was not what I had 
called the meeting for and I thought it very discourteous for him 



184 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

to endeavor to take it out of my hands, inasmuch as it was on my 
concern that it was called. I quietly arose and told them I had 
called the meeting not to preach to them but to have a talk with 
them ; that I had been given a sense of several conditions among 
them, and it seemed to be my duty to open before them what 
I saw with such counsel as the Master might be able to give. I 
then opened these states one after another, touching and tendering 
many hearts, and as I afterwards learned spoke to conditions and 
answered queries in some minds that seemed marvelous to them 
as they knew I had no outward knowledge of what I was portray- 
ing. I then appeared in supplication on behalf of some of these 
and closed under a tender feeling which brought the tears to many 
eyes. After a few moments I was about to close the meeting 
when the minister alluded to arose and said he hoped- the meeting 
would not close until there had been several testimonies from the 
young people, but I saw this would not be profitable and would 
tend to dispel the feeling which had settled over the meeting, and 
I immediately said, " I think the time has arrived for this meeting 
to close," when they immediately rose, thus evidencing that they 
too were ready for it. 

I have given this circumstance in detail so that if perchance it 
shall fall under the eye of others engaged in the ministry it may 
furnish a lesson for each to be careful not to interfere with the 
work of another, nor attempt to move save under the influence 
of the Divine Spirit, when all will be kept in proper order. 

On our return to Baltimore in the fall of 1895 I found a concern 
resting with me to attend some meetings within the limits of Con- 
cord Quarterly Meeting and those meetings in particular which 
I had been prevented from attending in 1878 by a severe snow- 
storm, in which we became storm-bound while on our way to 
them, and although the friends of those meetings would remind 
me when we met at their Yearly Meetings that I had never kept 
my appointment, way had not opened to get to them, so we ob- 
tained a minute for that purpose and in the First month, 1896, we 
left for that object and held several meetings in this vicinity and 



Ministry and Travels 185 

at West Chester, where the trouble had occurred two years be- 
fore or nearly that time. Although a stormy night a very large 
number gathered. I could feel there was a great curiosity among 
them as to what would be delivered, and I took for my topic 
' What makes a Christian, what was the object of being a 
Christian, and what its effect ? " and while I did not make any 
allusion to what had transpired I felt as I proceeded that it was 
a complete refutation of all the charges made against me, while 
I did not know what they were, I was largely led and a most 
profound attention was given. At the close of the meeting a 
gentleman came up to me and said, " I am not a Quaker, but 
this is the closest, keenest shave I ever saw." And others said 
my adversaries had been completely answered. Our meetings in 
that vicinity were all largely attended, though some efforts were 
made by a Presbyterian minister to keep the young people from 
hearing me, but without avail. So that in the end the truth 
triumphed over this prejudiced opposition, nearly all of which 
arose from the reporter misquoting me and what was said. 

Before leaving for our Mendon home in the spring of 1896 we 
asked for and obtained a minute to attend Ohio Yearly Meeting 
and the meetings comprising it. This was the only Yearly Meet- 
ing of the seven I had not visited, as no way had opened before 
for that service. It was our intention to attend the conferences at 
Swarthmore and then go to Ohio. Just before the time for at- 
tending the conferences my wife was taken with a serious attack 
of dysentery and for a time it looked very doubtful about our 
attending either, but she so far recovered that I deemed it prudent 
to start with her for the conferences after they had been in session 
for two days, arriving in time to take part in the Religious Con- 
ference, before which I had a paper on the past and future of 
Quakerism. My wife was unable to attend but part of two of 
the meetings, being too weak to bear the strain of a two and 
one-half hours meeting, but strong enough for me to attend 
them. After these were over we went on to Ohio and attended 
that meeting and most of its constituent branches. In some meet- 



186 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

ings I found a prejudice had been created against me on account 
of my radical views, but still there was an openness to hear and 
all passed off in the end very satisfactorily. 

We returned to our Mendon home to make our preparations 
for a final leave-taking of it, having sold the farm, and now 
expecting to make Baltimore our permanent place of residence. 

Since our return to Baltimore we have made a visit to Burling- 
ton Quarterly Meeting, held at Trenton, New Jersey, to good 
satisfaction. 

This closes the narration of this phase of my life up to the First 
of First month, 1897. If I shall be permitted to remain several 
years longer in active service I may be able to add a supplement, 
or perhaps some of my friends who may survive me, may add all 
that will be necessary. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Some Incidents Not Recorded in Chronological Order. 

In the early part of my ministry I felt drawn for three succes- 
sive days to address a state I felt to be present in our meeting, 
and each time to encourage it to be faithful to what appeared to be 
required of it or else its spiritual growth would be dwarfed. 
It seemed strange to me why this should have occurred, but so 
clear was the intimation of duty I dared not withhold. A fevv 
months afterwards, while visiting a friend, she asked me if I 
remembered speaking to a state three first days in succession. 
I said, " I did and had often wondered who and why it was." 
" Well," said she, " it was for me. I had bought a new fur cape 
and it had some tassels of fur on it which I thought were very 
pretty (they were fashionable then), and I wore it once to meet- 
ing, and I could not think of anything else but those pretty tassels, 
so when I took it out the next First day I felt I ought to take 
them off, but they looked so pretty I did not, and went to meet- 
ing struggling with the feeling, when thee got up and described 
my state exactly and counselled me to give up, but I did not. So 
the next First day morning as I put it on again the same feeling 
came and I again resisted and said to myself, ' If John speaks to 
me to-day I will take them off,' so sure enough thee spoke even 
more closely than before and I was touched and resolved when 
I got home I would take them off, but they looked so pretty to me 
that I laid them away again without keeping my promise. When 
the next First day came I went through the same struggle and 
said again ' If John speaks to me to-day I will not hesitate any 
longer,' so when I got to meeting very soon after it gathered thee 
spoke again and warned me seriously that unless I obeyed it 



1 88 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

would dwarf my spiritual growth, and I then resolved I would 
do it on getting home, and when I arrived I took the scissors and 
severed them, and have felt glad ever since." This may seem to 
have been a slight thing, but I mention it to show how clear were 
these intimations to me, and how by being faithful I was able 
to help this woman do what she knew was required of her. 

After I had been acknowledged a little over a year, as I sat 
in the Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and Elders, I was brought 
under a deep exercise and scarcely knew which way to turn. I 
had a clear view that one of the members present was not what 
he appeared to be, though I could not see who it was ; that he 
was making a great profession, but inwardly exercising unkind 
and envious feelings, and soon came the command to bear 
testimony to. what I saw. I struggled with it. I thought I knew 
intimately every one present, and I could not conceive it was pos- 
sible that such a description belonged to any individual there, but 
there was no peace. The command became stronger and stronger, 
and under its power I stood up, commencing with the words, " I 
see with my mental eye that there is a wolf in sheep's clothing 
amongst us, and we must beware of his devastating work or it will 
destroy us," and spoke for several minutes with unusual power 
and depth of feeling. As I sat down the solemnity which rested 
over the meeting exceeded anything I had ever witnessed. The 
human power within me kept saying, " Thou art mistaken," but 
the Divine, " Thou art right," and at last a quiet, peaceful feeling 
settled over me and I was at rest. Contrary to my expectations 
when the meeting closed, though several grasped my hand with 
an unusual warmth of feeling, no questions were asked, nor was 
my testimony ever alluded to in my presence, but it was only a few 
years before it developed who it was and that my testimony was 
strictly true, and its remembrance in a severe hour of trial with 
that spirit aided me materially in preserving my integrity. 

In the year 1870 I went to Philadelphia to attend the convention 
on Indian Affairs and on Seventh day went to West Chester tc 
be at meeting on First day, and made my home with Jonathan 



Incidents out of Chronological Order 189 

Travilla, with whom E. Newport was staying. After meeting, 
which Elizabeth was unable to attend, just before leaving she 
wanted a quiet time, she told me she had been travailing with me 
throughout the meeting, and although she was not there and no 
one had had an opportunity to tell her anything of it, as I had 
been with her all the time after we returned, she told the heads 
of my discourse ; said she had followed me through it with great 
unity, " but I have seen further. Thou will meet with more and 
bitter opposition than thou hast ever known and seen, and that 
from those thee loves, but I have seen thee will keep thy place and 
be preserved through it all.'' And that fall the storm broke upon 
me, and I sometimes thought had it not been for those words of 
encouragement I would have given out or lost that self-control by 
which, under the guidance of the Divine Spirit, I was able to 
thwart every attack designed to destroy me. 

I had a little previous to this been very closely led towards 
Martha E. Travilla. During my correspondence with her mother 
(a long time had elapsed since I had heard from her), when she 
had Martha write to me for her, she added some for herself. 
Martha at that time was a stranger to me personally. I had just 
seen her pass through the room and been introduced. As soon 
as I read the letter I turned to my wife and said here is a letter 
from Martha Travilla, E. Newport's daughter, and I felt while 
reading it that she will have to take up her mother's work and 
follow in her footsteps in her peculiar mission. There was noth- 
ing in the letter to indicate it but such was the impression on 
my mind, so when I responded to it I told her what I saw 
and exhorted her to be faithful to the openings made to her. I 
did not hear anything from her for nearly three years, and until 
after she had lost a loved sister and had appeared in the ministry. 
Then while writing to her mother I spoke of her loss and the 
comfort Martha's course must be to her, when she replied at once 
suggesting that I should write to Martha, as she stood in 
need of just what I could give. So I soon wrote and received a 
reply stating that when my first letter came she was staying away 



190 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

from meeting so she would not have to speak. She was at first 
indignant that I should have written as I did, then softened, and 
spent the night in tears, but under the strength given, in that I 
had confirmed her feelings, she went back to meeting and soon 
appeared in the ministry, and between us there grew a 
spiritual intimacy by which we were able to sustain each other 
through many a trial as the dear Father would give one or the 
other, as each most needed that insight into the other's condition, 
necessary to send or speak the counsel required for our encourage- 
ment, and this continued unbroken until her death. 

One day as I sat down in our week-day meeting I was in spirit 
taken into the home of a dear friend who was young in the 
ministry, who lived over two hundred miles away, and I found 
her in a depressed state of mind, surrounded by so many cares, 
and her husband, though a kind man, did not appreciate the sit- 
uation in which he had placed her, and because of it she was 
deprived of occupying her unusually sweet gift. When I ar- 
rived home from meeting I was so deeply impressed with what 
had passed before my mental vision I felt it would be right for 
me to write to her and encourage her by letting her know I had 
seen her and to keep up hope, for a deliverance would come, and 
to enclose a note to the husband, bidding him loose the bands by 
which he had bound his loved one and let her go on the Lord's 
mission. 

I soon received a response, saying I had seen their true condi- 
tion and my words had been a great comfort to her, and from 
her husband who thanked me for opening his eyes to his thought- 
lessness ; he had not taken her into consideration ; he was employ- 
ing a number of men, making a large family for her to cook for, 
with only one girl, and he was looking only to the emoluments to 
be derived from their labor, which alas were not realized, but it 
produced a change in his management afterwards. 

Just before I entered the work of the ministry we had a con- 
dition in our meeting of an old man marrying for the third time, 
and its proving an unhappy connection. He being a prominent 



Incidents out of Chronological Order 191 

minister it occasioned some considerable feeling in the meeting 
and in my impetuous nature I could not bear to hear him speak 
when I knew he was living in such a state with his wife. So on 
one occasion after our Yearly Meeting a number of strangers were 
at our meeting and after they had spoken this old friend appeared 
in supplication, and I kept my seat, as it was the custom then for 
all to rise at such times. Soon after one of the strangers also 
appeared in the same manner and I rose. This act was noticed 
by one of these strangers who went to my father's to dine and 
afterward to my home to tea, and on our way thither he spoke 
to me about it, and I replied I could not conscientiously do it, to 
which he said, " I would have once done as thee did, but I 
would not do so now," and thus wisely forbore saying anything 
more, but it had found a lodgment, and upon close reflection I saw 
I was wrong, that however much he was out of the wa\ 
it was no justification for my showing my dissatisfaction in a 
public meeting. One year from the next fall, while working in 
my field, I was arrested with the impression that I must go to 
Farmington Meeting on First day morning, which was about 
fifteen miles from my home. I could not see why this would be 
required, but as I had covenanted to be obedient I made the 
needed preparations and with my wife drove over there. We 
had been there but a few moments when the friend who had 
administered the rebuke to me so kindlv, came in and then I 
saw why I was sent there. He was at a sanitarium not many 
miles away, but I did not know but he was at his home near 
Philadelphia. After meeting, in which our communications 
blended harmoniously, I told him I could now see the propriety 
of his counsel, for I would not do so now and thanked him 
for his kindness and wisdom in stopping when he did, for had he 
argued the case with me I was prepared to defend myself from 
the human standpoint at every point, but he had completely dis- 
armed me. 

I had felt my mind drawn at one time to hold a meeting in the 
large Congregational church in the city of Rochester, and after 



192 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

having made the arrangements for the meeting, to be held some 
ten days in the future, during the week before while busy in my 
field cutting up corn, the text from which I was to speak sud- 
denly was opened to me, and the different heads under which I 
was to present it, and what I should say, and so clearly and 
vividly was this impressed upon my mind that I could have written 
out the whole sermon just as I afterwards delivered it, for it re- 
mained with me clearly until it was delivered. This was a new 
experience to me under which I was taught that the Divine 
Spirit could instruct me what must be delivered even before the 
meeting had been held, and confirmed me in what I have written 
as a previous experience that we are not always required to wait 
until we are gathered in the meeting to know what to say. And I 
may now add to this, that since I have been living in Baltimore 
that I have seldom gone to meeting on First day morning without 
having a sight of the subject to be presented, but not how it was 
to be spoken. 

At another time I felt a drawing to hold a meeting in a Baptist 
house, the congregation of which was very aristocratic, but T 
succeeded in making the necessary arrangements to attend their 
regular meeting in the evening, and during the afternoon previous 
I called to see the minister to ascertain how the meeting would be 
conducted, so that there would be no confusion or jar. His wife 
met me and said her husband was lying down and she would not 
disturb him as he needed the rest, but invited me into the parlor, 
and after a few minutes conversation asked me what college I 
was a graduate of, and as I told her I had never been to any 
college she looked at me in perfect amazement and soon left me 
alone, and I waited about three-quarters of an hour before the 
minister came down. When he came he was very distantly polite 
and very reserved, but I completed my arrangements and was to 
meet him in the chapel just before the hour of the meeting. When 
I went there he was even more cold than in the afternoon, but 
we soon went into the pulpit and after conducting the opening 
exercises he gave me a very shabby introduction to the audience. 



Incidents out of Chronological Order 193 

I, however, went on as though nothing had happened.. He sat 
down at some distance from me and buried his face in his hands, 
as though he expected to be extremely mortified by one who had 
not been educated at a college, but soon after I began to speak he 
raised his head, and a little further on straightened himself up with 
a look of profound astonishment on his face as I proceeded in 
a logical manner to elucidate my text, and when the meeting 
closed greeted me with as much warmth as he had with coldness 
before the meeting, saying, "Brother Cornell, I have been deeply 
interested and instructed by your elucidation of that text and I 
know it has been a profitable opportunity for my people." And 
here again the truth triumphed over fear and opposition. 

At one time while attending a funeral at Scipio, Cayuga county, 
I fell in company with a Methodist minister who was going to 
exchange pulpits nearby, and as we both returned the next day 
by the same train and had an hour and a half to wait the minister 
approached me and said, " You are the minister who attended that 
funeral yesterday." I assented. " Well," he said, " I have heard 
about the Friends, but I never met one before to whom I could 
talk and I would like to make some inquiries." I told him if his 
object was information I would be happy to oblige him, but if it 
was controversy I must decline. He said it was information, and 
we had not talked long before it became necessary to tell him to 
which branch I belonged, when he at once said, " What is the 
difference between you ? " I told him we differed in our idea of 
what constitutes the Divinity of Christ and in regard to the atone- 
ment, which we rejected from the standpoint of the evangelical 
church. He said, " What then do you believe to have been the 
mission of Jesus ? " I told him " To bear before the world an ex- 
ample of a humanity tempted in all points as we are and yet by 
obedience to the Divine Spirit to be kept from the commission of 
sin." " Then you look upon the crucifixion of Jesus as nothing less 
than an atrocious murder." I replied, " That is about the size of it, 
as the small boys would say." The tears started down his cheeks 
and he grasped my hand warmly and said, " I am with you in 

13 



194 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

that view." I was very much surprised to hear him say it. He 
asked me a number of questions of a theological character, and 
I told him I had not time then to give him a clear answer but I 
had written a little book, which I would send him when I arrived 
at home and he would find the answers to his questions in that. 
The cars then came and we took a seat together as we were going 
the same way for a short distance. After a few moments he 
turned to me and asked me to give him briefly my idea of the 
Divinity of Christ, which I did in as brief a manner as I could. 
He listened attentively and then said, " Do you see the Andover 
Review? " I said, " No." " Well," he replied, " this is a strange 
coincidence. There is an article in the last number on this subject 
in which it is treated in the exact manner which you have 
just stated, in almost your very words." This was also a surprise 
to me that so evangelical a body as that University would admit 
such views into the Review. We soon arrived at the station 
where he was to leave, and we parted in such tenderness that both 
were in tears though only two hours before we were entire 
strangers. I sent him my " Essays on the Views of Friends " as 
soon as I got home, and in a few days received a letter from him, 
in which he said, " I have read your little book and will say with- 
out flattery that I have a large library of theological works from 
the grossest materialism to the strictest orthodoxy, but there's 
more in your little book for me than in any work I have, and I 
want you to come and preach for me." 

As soon as I could arrange it I went to his home and occupied 
his pulpit morning and evening, and when out of meeting and out 
of bed we talked on almost every conceivable religious subject 
and we did not find any ground for disagreement. As we parted 
the next morning he said to me, " I anticipated much, but my 
anticipations have been more than realized. I look upon you as 
a father to me in religious experience, and you must come to me 
once a year as long as I am near you," which I did, and our 
friends life deepened until he left New York and went to Ohio, 
since which time I have only heard from him twice. This was in- 



Incidents out of Chronological Order 195 

teresting to me because I found the same Divine Spirit had in- 
structed him in a similar manner it had myself though we were 
placed in very different circumstances and surrounded by different 
influences. 

Another incident I deem worthy of record. I went at one time 
with my step-mother to attend the funeral of an uncle of hers, who 
was a member among the Orthodox Friends, but as there was no 
minister of that sect near that they could get, they called in a Pres- 
byterian. When I went into the house and was invited with mother 
into the parlor, a son-in-law of the deceased, who knew me, soon 
went out and returned for me and gave me an introduction to the 
minister, who invited me to take part in the service and seeing I 
hesitated a little he said, " I understand your people, for I have 
known a good deal about the Friends and must acknowledge while 
we are paying a good deal of attention to the husks you go directly 
to the kernel. If you feel like it I want you to use the liberty to 
speak." I said I would, and we went in together and after read- 
ing some Scripture texts he commenced by saying, " There are no 
two words in the English language that have had more power to 
move me than the words ' I live,' " and then proceeded for twenty 
minutes in a clear, beautiful style to elucidate his thought and, 
closing a sentence, stopped abruptly and sat down. I was ready 
and arose immediately just where he stopped and carried on the 
same thought for about twenty minutes longer, both communica- 
tions blending as though they had been delivered by the same per- 
son, and if I spoke by inspiration, which I certainly did, so did he. 
I met him once after that (where he had charge of a large church) 
at the funeral of one of our members, but whose daughter was a 
member of his congregation, and we mingled again in our exer- 
cises as harmoniously, though not in the same manner, and while 
on our way to the grave he gave me a hearty invitation to come to 
his church, and as I then had a minute to appoint such meetings I 
accepted it. He proposed it should be in the evening and he 
would secure a union meeting, which he did, and here I learned 
a lesson of value to me as a public speaker. I arose with this 



196 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

language, " I am not insensible to the responsibility I assume in 
attempting to address such an audience from this pulpit, for you 
have been accustomed to listen to men trained in public speaking, 
and as I have not had that advantage, while I shall make no 
apology for the matter delivered, I ask you to be lenient in your 
criticism of the manner in which it may be delivered." We had 
a grand meeting. Many gathered around me after meeting, ex- 
pressing the satisfaction it had been to them and the greeting 
of the minister was very tender and loving. 

The next morning as I started for home and had taken a seat 
in the cars I noticed a gentleman walk up and down the aisle 
several times and then he stopped and accosted me with, " I heard 
you preach last night." " Yes," I said, " there were a good many 
there." " I liked everything you said but one." I said, " It 
would be strange if no objection could be made to so long a 
sermon." He replied, " That was your apology. That was not 
necessary." And so I learned to leave that out from that time 
and go at once into my subject, and I am convinced that it is an 
important lesson for public speakers to learn. The people do not 
care about the apology, but the substance of the address, let it be 
upon any subject it may. 

The following statement of a Friend, regarding a revelation of 
duty, in which I subsequently had a part, I deem worthy of a 
place in these experiences. " He said in his young life he took 
to reading sceptical works and these had exerted a good deal 
of influence over him. One night he had been reading one of 
Shakespeare's plays up to 12.30, and after he had gone to sleep he 
was awakened by hearing his name called, so that answering the 
call, but receiving no response, he arose and went to the door, and 
finding no one concluded some one was playing a trick on him and 
laid down again, but not to sleep. Soon he heard the call again, 
and again he answered, but got no response. He then arose, 
lighted the lamp and went to each of the rooms in which the dif- 
ferent members of the family slept and found them all quietly 



Incidents out of Chronological Order 197 

sleeping. After he returned to his room he sat down on the side 
of the bed, somewhat disturbed and not a little provoked. Soon 
a form rose before his vision which he recognized as a minister liv- 
ing in Philadelphia, and a voice said, " Young man, I have a 
message for thee," and then went on to spiritualize the birth and 
life of Christ and showing him how this could take place within 
him, and how it would grow, until it had control, if he would allow 
it, and then said, " Go to Yearly Meeting this fall, someone will 
be there who has a message for thee." About two weeks before 
the Yearly Meeting the subject came up in the family as to who 
would go and he said " I am going." This seemed to surprise 
them. He was asked how long he would attend, to which he re- 
plied, " I do not know." When the time arrived, he went and at- 
tended the three meetings on First day. I was in attendance at the 
Yearly Meeting that year. He said I with others spoke at all 
three of the meetings, but no message for him, nor was there until 
Fourth day. I was speaking at some length and he said 
to himself, " There is no message for me in that," when I sud- 
denly stopped without finishing a sentence and sat down, but al- 
most immediately rose and said, " I have a message for some 
young man present," and then described accurately his feelings 
and condition of mind and extended some counsel, stopping just 
at the right place, and then resumed the interrupted discourse by 
completing the unfinished sentence and this circumstance had com- 
pletely changed his after-course in life." 

A few years since while on a religious visit to Friends in 
Salem, N. J, a friend sent me a request to hold a parlor meeting 
at her home, and after considering it, as it seemed right to 
comply, arrangements were made in accordance therewith. 
Quite a number of friends gathered and after a period 
of silence in which there came before me a spiritual view of a 
number of conditions I broke the silence by saying that I was 
impressed that some one of those present was about to embark in 
a new enterprise, and my feeling was that it would be improper 
for them to do so, as I saw the enterprise would not be successful 



198 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

and if they engaged in it, it would result in a financial loss. As 
I knew nothing except from those inward impressions and noth- 
ing was said to me by any one at the close of the meeting I had 
often wondered why I should have been thus led. 

While in Salem in the summer of 1903 a friend came to me 
and asked me if I remembered the above circumstance. I replied 
" That I did distinctly." He then said, " I was the one thee re- 
ferred to, took thy advice and did not enter into the business 
I had anticipated to have done, and as thee said it would, it 
turned out disastrously." 

Another interesting circumstance occurred a few years ago 
while in attendance at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. On Fifth 
day morning, after I had been speaking largely, as I took my seat 
I heard with my mental ear very distinctly these words, " I wish 
he would explain the unpardonable sin," but before I could get 
upon my feet another friend arose and extended his communica- 
tion for some considerable time, a practice which seems to me 
should be avoided, that of almost immediately arising to speak 
when another has just closed a communication without giving 
time either for the audience to reflect upon what has been spoken 
or the speaker to correct some impression which has been made, 
or, as in this case, answer an inquiry which may have taken hold 
of some mind. As soon as I could I arose and stated what I had 
heard with my spiritual ear and gave this explanation: That all 
sins committed through ignorance or inadvertence or unwatch- 
fulness would be overlooked, but the blasphemy against the Holy 
Ghost, which consisted in any wilful violation of a known Divine 
law would not be pardoned, but must be atoned for through suf- 
fering until we were willing to yield our obedience. Illustrating 
it by reference to human law in this manner : When an individual, 
for instance, commits a theft, is detected and taken before the 
courts and convicted, if there be palliatory circumstances the 
prisoner is often paroled during good behavior and so far the 
crime is pardoned, but if there be no such palliatory circumstance 
he is sentenced to imprisonment for a certain period, that being 



Incidents out of Chronological Order 199 

the penalty human judgment deems adequate for the crime. At 
the expiration of the term of confinement the convict is liberated 
with all the privileges of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, 
he had before his conviction. He has not been forgiven but has 
paid the penalty human judgment has prescribed. So in sinning 
against our Heavenly Father those wilful sins must be atoned 
for by the individual through a loss of peace by remorse until he 
is willing to comply with the Divine command. When this will- 
ingness is complete then a reconciliation is effected. He has not 
been forgiven or pardoned but has paid the penalty Divine justice 
imposed. An instance is the parable of the prodigal son which is 
a lesson that corroborates my understanding of it. That evening 
after our evening meal a sister of our host said to me, " That was a 
strange coincidence in meeting to-day." I responded, " To what 
does thee refer? " She said, " About thy hearing with thy spirit- 
ual ear that inquiry, for just as thee sat down after concluding 
thy first sermon, the woman who sat next to me whispered to 
me and said, ' I wish he would explain the unpardonable sin.' " 
I was too far distant to hear anything by the outward ear, so it 
could only have been communicated by the medium of the Divine 
Spirit. 



CHAPTER X. 
My Temperance Work. 

I have not the exact date in memory when I delivered the first 
address upon the subject of temperance but it was somewhere 
between 1872 and 1S75, though I have a very distinct remem- 
brance of the event and the cause which led to it, for it was 
brought about in a jocular manner without any anticipation on 
my part of ever taking an active interest in that kind of reform 
work as I have been since gradually led into. 

One day about the time referred to I went to take an intimate 
friend who had been visiting us to the cars, and arriving at the 
station a little early, and it not being a comfortable one to wait in, 
suggested to my friend that we go over to a store nearby kept by 
one whom I well knew, and who had married a daughter of one 
of the ministers belonging to our meeting. As I entered the door 
I found the proprietor busily engaged in talking with another 
man, and as he looked up and saw me he greeted me thus, " There 
comes one of them now, and I had just as leave tackle him as any- 
one." Knowing his jocular manner and his love to get of! a 
joke on any one, I took it in that form and said, " What is the 
matter now, Uncle Joe," as we all called him. He said " We were 
talking about the apathy of you ministers in speaking upon tem- 
perance ; that you were afraid to touch the subject." I said, " I 
hardly think that is so." ' Well now," he replied, " you dare not 
speak upon it." " Why, Uncle Joe," I replied, "y es > I dare." 
"Well, will you then?" he queried. I said "Yes." "Well 
then," he said, " the women have just formed a union up at 
Mendon and I am going up there on Friday and will tell them 
you will speak for them," and I said, " All right," and supposed 
that would be the last of it, for I had carried on the conversation 



Travels in the Ministry 201 

in a light, semi-serious way, to parry his, what I supposed 
to be jocular, assault upon me as a minister. Judge then of my 
surprise at receiving through the mail on the following Second 
day evening a postal stating that it had been announced that I 
would deliver a temperance address in the Presbyterian church 
in Mendon at 4 o'clock next Sabbath. I could not recall the an- 
nouncement, nor had I any time to prepare an address for the occa- 
sion. The daughter of one of my nearest neighbors died the next 
morning, and though she was a member of another religious so- 
ciety, had sent for me several days before and asked me to officiate 
at the funeral, as she termed it, and I had promised to do so, and 
this occurred on Fifth day, and in the meantime I had a good deal 
to do in assisting them in making arrangements for it, besides 
I was very busy with my farm work, and it troubled me not a 
little, but by Sixth day I had settled down with the feeling that 
if it was right the Divine Spirit would help me through that as it 
had in many an emergency before, even though I had thought- 
lessly entered into it. So when First day afternoon came I went 
with a somewhat anxious but still trusting heart. I never could 
remember what I said but I spoke with much pathos and power, 
and I afterward learned that two men especially who were drink- 
ing hard and neglecting their families, one of whom was the 
brother-in-law of the man with whom I had the conversation 
which led to the meeting, were touched, and from that day ceased 
to drink and became active temperance workers, so that I felt 
I was in my place. 

I was not called on again for such an address until nearly three 
years had passed, and that was through the instrumentality of 
the same man. I had endeavored some years before to get an op- 
portunity to hold a meeting in one of the churches in the village 
of Victor. I did not want to go in the Universalist house, though 
that was open for me because the ones for whom I felt I had 
a message would not go there. Some of the elders and myself 
had made two efforts to get the meeting in one of the other houses, 
but failed because we were what they called the Hicksites. They 



202 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

had frequently admitted the Orthodox, and hence the prejudice. 
This man, knowing these facts, said to me one day as I was at the 
station, " John, do you still want a meeting at Victor ? " I re- 
plied, " Yes, whenever way opens." " Well" he said, " I think 
I can get the Methodist house." I told him to go ahead. In a 
few days I received a line from the Methodist minister saying he 
had been informed I wanted their house to deliver a temperance 
address in and that I could have it for that purpose. I replied to 
him stating that there was some mistake in his information ; that 
I had for a long time felt I had a Gospel message for the people 
of that place, and if I could have the house in about two weeks 
for that purpose I would be thankful to him. He replied stating 
that on the day named they were to have a union temperance meet- 
ing and it would not be a suitable time for a Gospel meeting, but 
if I would come out and take part in the temperance meeting that 
he would tell me if I could have the house for the religious 
meeting, and when, so I concluded to go. My wife and self drove 
over in the afternoon a little early, it being a pleasant afternoon, 
in the Fifth month, though a little showery towards evening. After 
arriving there and having a short conversation with the minister 
he excused himself to attend the young people's prayer meeting, 
and when he came back he said to me, " We shall have to look to 
you for the address to-night as our Universalist brother who was 
to speak has the bronchitis and dare not come out this damp even- 
ing." " Well," I said, " this is taking me at a rather unfair ad- 
vantage as I did not think of taking only a supplemental part. 
However I will do the best I can." At the hour appointed a large 
meeting gathered, and after the preliminary services were over 
I was formally introduced, and anticipating that I might need 
some help I had prepared some notes for that purpose. I took 
them out of my pocket, laid them beside the Bible on the desk 
before me and commenced my address, and that was the last I 
thought of my notes until I was through. I held the profound 
attention of the audience for an hour, showing the necessity of 
the advocates of temperance being consistent with their profes- 



Travels in the Ministry 203 

sion. As I sat down the minister reached over and said in a 
whisper, " You can have the house." This was so ludicrous that 
I had some difficulty in maintaining a proper gravity. At the 
close of the meeting the Presbyterian minister who was present 
said to me, " You do not stick as close to your notes as I have 
to." This cured me of attempting to carry notes, and it opened 
the way for the meeting which was held a few First days after 
and paved the way for a close bond of affection between the 
minister and myself, and led to the breaking down of the preju- 
dice against me because I was a Hicksite, and I gained another 
valuable lesson, and that was, that by taking an active part in 
the temperance work it would open many a closed door for me 
which I have found true, as the instances are not few when after 
delivering a temperance address the minister would say, " Mr. 
Cornell, we would be happy to have you preach for us at any 
time you can come," some of which invitations I have accepted 
and we have had excellent meetings. 

I now began to take some active part in the movement for the 
suppression of the saloon by legal means and united myself with 
the work of the Temperance League, which was afterward 
merged into an American Temperance Alliance and continued to 
act with them until 1881, when it was abandoned and the first 
effort to form a Prohibition Party was begun in Monroe county, 
New York. My reasons for this were that after making an effort 
within the primaries of the Republican party, with which I had 
affiliated ever since I had been voting, to get a district attorney 
who would enforce the license laws against the illegal sale of 
liquors, and finding the leaders of the party under the domination 
of the saloon power I felt hopeless of attaining anything satis- 
factory as a temperance measure through them, and by forming a 
strictly temperance party, with the entire prohibition of the 
traffic in intoxicants as its object, I hoped all good and true tem- 
perance men of both parties would rally to it and make the de- 
struction of the liquor power an issue, and thus destroy its 
legalized existence, but like many another sanguine project for 



204 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

reform it has not accomplished what was hoped for it. My ob- 
ject, in laboring with this party was for an agitation of the ques- 
tion as an educational means to arouse the people to the gigantic 
character of the evil of the liquor power and by showing them how 
it had entrenched itself behind or with the political power of the 
parties to get them to throw off this bondage and assert them- 
selves to destroy the hydra-headed monster. 

I was frequently called upon for addresses, both from the 
Gospel and political standpoint, but always endeavored to treat 
the subject carefully, without any violent denunciatory expres- 
sions. 

At Farmington Quarterly Meeting in 1884 a Committee on 
Temperance was appointed, and as I had some leisure time on my 
hands I told the committee that if they would arrange for the 
meetings I would address them, and so I went from one part 
of the Quarterly Meeting to another during the winter of 1884 
and 1885 delivering these addresses, but they were from the 
educational side. In the spring of 1885 I spent a week in Niagara 
county speaking for the W. C. T U. with two objects in view, one 
to further the temperance cause and the other to break down a 
prejudice against some of the workers in that order who were 
members of our branch of Friends and who were looked upon 
with distrust because they were not evangelical. So bitter was 
this feeling that in one place we found the church door locked 
against us though permission had been given for the meeting on 
Seventh day evening. The president of the union succeeded in 
getting it open and we had a large meeting of men who were 
attracted from the stores by the opposition and our meeting was 
pronounced a success. So sometimes the machinations of men 
are overruled for good. 

In 1886 I was invited to deliver an address on Third day even- 
ing of Yearly Meeting week in Philadelphia. This address was 
taken down stenographically by Dr. H. T. Childs, published, and 
widely circulated, and was thought to have done much good. 



Travels in the Ministry 205 

In the fall of 1887 I was requested to come to New Jersey by 
the temperance committee of Salem Quarterly Meeting and de- 
liver a series of addresses in Friends' meeting-houses on tem- 
perance from the prohibition standpoint, to which I acceded 
and held a number of such meetings. It was regarded as an in- 
novation in the practice of Friends to speak on political subjects 
in their meeting-houses and yet no objection was offered save in 
one place, at which I attended the mid-week meeting which 
was large and satisfactory. After I had reached the Friend's 
house, where I was to be entertained, an old elder rode up 
and called me out, and after a good deal of preamble and 
excuse said he understood that I had made statements at the 
meeting the night before that were not true and he was very sorry 
to learn it. I asked what they were. He said he did not know, 
but had been told so. I told him I was not in the habit of making 
statements I did not believe to be true, nor did I make any that 
night I did not so believe, and that he had better go to his in- 
formant and learn definitely what the charges were before coming 
to me with such a complaint. I left him, however, in a tender 
frame of mind, realizing he had made a mistake. In the after- 
noon two of his nephews, one of whom was quite a politician, 
came to where I expected to take tea and wanted I should re- 
call the appointment in their meeting-house. I told them I had 
no power to do that. Then they wanted I should consent to go 
into the hall and they would see it was properly prepared and 
lighted. I said if that was the judgment of the committee who 
had sent for me I would go where they said. I then turned to the 
spokesman of the two and said to him, " What did thee tell thy 
uncle that I had made statements that were not true for, and if 
so what were they?" This seemed to astound them and they 
began to apologize and finally noted a quotation I had made, one 
which as' I said was going the rounds of the papers, which they 
knew was true. I told them they ought to be more careful in the 
future about circulating such reports against one in a public posi- 
tion. When we went to the meeting neither the hall nor meet- 



206 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

ing house was lighted. The friends had broken their word, 
whether in the hope of breaking up the meeting or not I do not 
know, but we soon had the meeting-house lighted, it was already 
warm from the morning meeting, and comfortable, and a large 
meeting gathered. After meeting the spokesman of the two 
came and said he had no fault to find with what was said that 
night, so his prejudice was broken. 

In the fall of 1888 I was sent for by the W. C T. U. to de- 
liver a series of addresses in company with others in Chester 
county, Pa., with the view of getting men nominated for the 
next Legislature who would submit the question of constitu- 
tional prohibition in that State to the voice of the people and 
was engaged therein betweeen two and three weeks. After 
my return from there I was nominated by the Prohibition party in 
my district as a candidate for Congress and spent several weeks 
in that canvass, speaking in my district and other parts of Western 
New York. I had not, of course, any expectation of an election, 
but worked for the good of the cause. 

In the Twelfth month the temperance committee of Abington 
Quarterly Meeting sent for me to address several meetings ap- 
pointed by them as preparatory to the struggle for a constitutional 
amendment. While in the prosecution of that work I received a 
letter from an elder of that meeting severely criticizing my course 
and telling me that I was trampling on the order of Society and 
I had better go home. I, however, went on my way fulfilling my 
engagements. I found, however, that the prominent part I was 
taking in this movement was bringing me under condemnation 
with some of the conservative members of Philadelphia Yearly 
Meeting but when I entered upon this temperance work I was 
fully aware that I would meet this opposition and had carefully 
counted the cost before I engaged in it. So I was not in the least 
disturbed by it, and I found whenever I could get these dissatis- 
fied ones to a meeting it disarmed their opposition. At one meet- 
ing a minister said it was the first temperance meeting he had 
ever attended, but he liked my kind of meetings for I mixed the 



Travels in the Ministry 207 

Gospel with it, and on another occasion one aged minister said he 
liked the meeting but did not like my using the terms ladies and 
gentlemen, I should have said friends. I laughingly replied, " I 
supposed friends were ladies and gentlemen," and he turned away 
smiling. I know all this opposition had its origin in a long time- 
honored idea that all forms of addresses outside of a sermon 
had their origin in the power of the human mind and could not 
therefore be entered into with propriety by a minister of the 
Society of Friends. They were honest, but blinded by prejudice. 

In the spring of 1889 I spent some six weeks in all in Penn- 
sylvania advocating the constitutional amendment and made dur- 
ing that time thirty-six addresses. In Philadelphia I again en- 
countered the feeling of prejudice at Spruce Street. It being 
the day of their Monthly Meeting while I was in the city I went 
to the meeting. As I went in the old friends at the head of the 
meeting gave me a cool reception and made no move to give me 
my accustomed place, but I kept under the influence of the Spirit 
which led me there and soon arose and bore a testimony among 
them. After meeting they were a little more cordial but excused 
themselves to Dr. Child, who accompanied me, that they did not 
know me. This may have been true but I seriously question 
it, as the friend who gave me my seat has occupied a position 
which has required him to read my minute quite a number of 
times. I think I had a sense of the real reason as I sat among 
them, but, be that as it may, I have never felt condemned for mv 
part in that campaign. 

At another place an incident happened that is worth recording. 
I learned that when my name was proposed on behalf of the 
W. C. T. U. to address with other speakers an open-air meeting 
objections were made by some of the committee having the 
matter in charge, because I belonged in New York and therefore 
did not understand the conditions of Pennsylvania, but these ob- 
jections were overruled, though I was not aware of this until the 
meeting was over. The other speakers were Presbyterian minis- 
ters and a Presbyterian minister presided at the meeting. When 



208 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

it came my turn in the afternoon to speak, as I accidentally turned 
around and addressed the presiding officer, I found him sitting 
with his mouth wide open eyeing me with intense interest. After 
the meeting he came to me and said, "I never heard the Brooks' 
law explained before, but I see it now and wonder I had not dis- 
covered what you told us, it is so plain. The committeemen 
went to the friend who proposed my name and said your head 
was level when you proposed Mr. Cornell for one of the speakers. 
He knows more about our laws than we do who live in the State." 

At another place, after I had spoken for over an hour, a Pres- 
byterian minister was called upon for some remarks, but said 
he could only endorse what had been said, and it was not worth 
while to occupy the time in reiteration, but he wanted to say one 
thing, he had listened to many political speeches and temperance 
addresses, but this was the cleanest thing of the kind he had ever 
listened to. Almost always there is some story told or some in- 
sinuation made which makes one wish it had not been said, or 
blush with shame, but not a word had been uttered by the speaker 
he would wish recalled. And I regarded this as the highest com- 
pliment which could be given me. 

In 1890 I took some part in the contest on this subject then 
taking place in Nebraska and delivered a number of addresses 
in that State, two notable ones in the opera house in Lincoln and 
Beatrice. 

Up to 1893 I had occasionally delivered addresses of both edu- 
cational and political natures in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
Virginia, but since that time I felt best to withdraw from political 
agitation along party lines. 

A careful study of the question has led me to believe that there 
is needed a more thorough education regarding the uselessness of 
the use of alcohol both as a beverage or as a medicine, and it is 
along the latter line that I have directed my study of the question 
and in which I have been speaking for the last three years, not 
that I am not convinced that prohibition of the use and traffic 
in intoxicants is that for which we should aim to reach by legal 



Travels in the Ministry 209 

enactment, but I am convinced the people as a mass are yet too 
much wedded to the idea that these intoxicants are in many cases 
necessary and conducive to health to be induced to entirely pro- 
hibit them, and this idea is fostered both directly and indirectly 
by the larger mass of our medical men, hence I have felt for the 
past three years that my work lies in arousing the people to de- 
mand of these physicians the use of other remedies, which are 
always as good and often much better than alcohol in any of its 
forms, and do not leave such deplorable results behind them. 

I have taken this phase of the philanthropic work in Baltimore 
Yearly Meeting as my part of that work, and have also been 
associated with the Maryland State Temperance Alliance for some 
three years, and am now taking a more active part in its work 
in the formation of Anti-saloon leagues, in which all parties and 
all denominations can work harmoniously for one common end 
without interfering with their party affiliations on other subjects, 
or with their denominational relations in their church work, and 
have recently accepted the secretaryship of that Alliance. 

The retrospect of this work convinces me that it is only a part 
of my Gospel christian work, for while the Gospel in its entiretv 
is designed for the reclamation and salvation of men from all 
manner and kinds of evil our temperance work is designed to re- 
claim and save men from a special evil, and however it may differ 
from the form of work of the fathers it is a Gospel work to me, 
and in accordance with our fundamental principle to mind the 
light so long as the command continues and the opportunity is 
given I shall continue to labor in it and with my light instead of 
that of the fathers. 



14 



CHAPTER XL 
Travels in the Ministry. — Continued. 

Fifth month, ipoo. It seems best for me now to resume this 
autobiography which has been discontinued for several years. 

During the winter succeeding the closing of the last chapter I 
was in and around Baltimore attending to my usual duties. In 
the Fifth month, 1896, I obtained a minute to attend in company 
with my wife, Ohio Yearly Meeting, and soon after went to our 
former home in Mendon, for the early part of the summer, dur- 
ing which time my wife had a severe attack of illness, but re- 
covered in time for us to attend the Conference at Swarthmore, 
though she was only able to attend two of its sessions. This 
was a deeply interesting occasion and it seemed to me then, and 
it has been subsequently confirmed, that it had the effect to deepen 
many of the younger members, who were present in large 
numbers, in their love for the principles of our Society and 
called for many resolutions to be firm, faithful, and to live 
more consecrated lives in the future. At the close of the con- 
ference we started to attend Ohio Yearly Meeting, which was 
then near at hand. We found a warm welcome and a con- 
genial home with Aaron and Mary Anna Packer. The Yearly 
Meeting, though small, was a lively and interesting one, and we 
had abundant evidence that our services were acceptable to them. 
After the close of the Yearly Meeting we attended all the meet- 
ings belonging to it but one, as this involved a stage ride of twelve 
miles and return, it was too much for the strength of my wife, 
not yet fully recovered. The meetings were well attended and 
were occasions of deep feeling. One in particular, where there 
had existed some prejudice, owing to reports of my unsoundness 




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Travels in the Ministry 211 

having been circulated, which at its close, I may say, without ego- 
tism, that truth was triumphant, as a very tender feeling had 
overspread the meeting ; and one individual in particular, who had 
left our Society and united with another, and who came to the 
meeting with a deeply prejudiced mind took my hand at the close 
of the meeting and with tears coursing down his cheeks, expressed 
his gratitude in being present, and for the truths in the message 
delivered. We returned to Mendon after concluding this service 
and made our preparations ior our final move from there, as 
I had sold the farm in the spring, retaining possession, however, 
for that year, to receive and market the growing crop. Thus 
entirely cutting loose from the old home which had sheltered me 
for fifty-four years. This was not done without earnest prayer for 
right direction and I now have reason to feel that we were not 
mistaken in our judgment in taking this course and becoming 
fully associated with friends of Baltimore, who had been, and 
still continue to be, so kind to us. 

During the session of Baltimore Yearly Meeting this fall, after 
our return, a concern was opened therein and fully united 
with to appoint a committee to visit our subordinate meetings, 
appointing the time when some of the committee would be 
expected to be present and to visit socially as many of the families 
as we could see our way to do. With this concern I had great 
unity, and when the committee was organized I was chosen its 
chairman. I soon found I was placed in a position of great re- 
sponsibility, and that the work assumed would involve a good deal 
of time and labor as well as no small sacrifice, so during the bal- 
ance of that year and the first half of 1897 found me closely en- 
gaged in that service whenever I could feel free to leave my own 
meeting. 

During the summer of 1897 we went to Chicago to spend some 
time with my wife's brother, and during the visit we attended that 
meeting for several successive first-days to our mutual 
satisfaction. We also visited a cousin of mine, who lived at 
Oakfield, Wisconsin, taking in a day at Waukesha Springs to 



212 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

visit our dear friends, Jonathan K. and Emma L. Taylor, who 
were spending some time there in search of health. While at Oak- 
field we held two union meetings with the Baptists and Methodists, 
the Baptists closing their meeting in the morning and coming 
to the Methodist house, and the Methodists reciprocating in the 
evening. As I was led to present the practical principles of Chris- 
tianity, as represented in our daily life, it met a warm response 
with these people, as well as with a number of other denomina- 
tions who were present. The greetings at the close of the meet- 
ings, as well as in the private circles in which we mingled, were 
peculiarly warm and tenderly loving. After leaving Oakfield*we 
went to visit a friend who had recently been received into the So- 
ciety, living near Madison, the capital of the State, expecting to go 
among entire strangers, but we were agreeably surprised to find 
that the family of the friend had come from near New York, and 
that we were personally acquainted with many of their relatives. 
We held two meetings here, one about five miles from Madison, 
in the neighborhood of these friends, and one in the city. The 
first meeting was crowded, and our testimony was listened to 
with the deepest interest, and many and warm were the greetings 
given at the close of the meeting, one elderly man saying, " This 
is the first meeting I have attended here for years in which I 
have not been abused." The meeting at Madison was also large ; 
the house being much larger was not so crowded as in the morn- 
ing. I think I have never felt a congregation to be more recep- 
tive than on this occasion. There did not feel to me to be the 
slightest feeling of criticism, but an entire willingness to receive 
what was given and dig'est it. The minister in charge of the 
meeting that evening, as we parted said : " I have been deeply 
instructed and I most heartily thank you for coming among us 
and bringing such a message from the Lord." After a short stay 
in Chicago we left to again attend Ohio Yearly Meeting, on our 
way to Baltimore. We were unable to attend all its sessions, as 
some business matters required our presence in Baltimore on the 
First of Ninth month. 



Travels in the Ministry 213 

After getting settled I again took up the work devolving on 
me as chairman and member of the visiting committee, and in 
this service visited quite a number of our subordinate meet- 
ings and many of the families belonging to them. This part 
of the service seemed to be cordially welcomed by those 
visited, many of whom seldom had the company of those traveling 
in the ministry, some of whom were unable to get out to meeting 
on account of ill health or advanced age, and some interest ap- 
peared to be aroused with some who were too absorbed in busi- 
ness to attend more than occasionally. 

The summer of 1898 found us with a concern to make a some- 
what extended visit, both socially and religiously, within the limits 
of Genesee Yearly Meeting, en route for Richmond, Indiana, to 
attend the conference, to be held there in the Eighth month. We 
went first to our old home in Mendon, made a number of 
visits, and held several meetings in the vicinity. Then went to 
Canada, within the limits of Pelham Half Yearly Meeting, attend- 
ing and appointing several meetings within the limits of that 
meeting, holding one in London, Ontario, and one in Detroit, 
Michigan, places where there had never been a Friends' meeting 
held before. These were seasons of deep baptism, but 
were crowned with the Master's presence, and I believe were ac- 
knowledged by those present to be such. We then attended the con- 
ference at Richmond, which proved a season of especial blessing, 
and at the close of the conference we came on and attended Center 
Quarterly Meeting, one of the most remote belonging to Balti- 
mor Yearly Meeting — arriving in Baltimore to attend our own 
Quarterly Meeting held in Gunpowder, about twenty miles from 
the city. I omitted to mention in its proper place that about the 
First of Second month in this year I was suddenly attacked with a 
severe case of rheumatic gout, probably inherited, which held me 
house-bound for eight weeks, and largely interfered with much 
traveling for nearly as much longer. Though at times suffering 
most excruciating pain, yet it was one of the happiest periods of 
my life. I was preserved from any impatient thought and from 



214 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

any impatient expression. It seemed strange and singular that 
one so impulsive by nature, inheriting a quick, passionate temper, 
could be so calm and patient, and I can only attribute it to the con- 
trolling influence of the Divine Spirit. During this confinement 
I had a rich experience spiritually and my faith in the Divine care 
and overruling was wonderfully strengthened. There came before 
me in review much of the experience of my past life, and par- 
ticularly those events which had during their passing so closely 
and so deeply tried me. Heretofore when they had come up in 
retrospect they had called up the indignant feelings which had 
cost me so much to control at the time. But during this period, as 
they came before me in thought, I could see as never before how 
each one of them had exerted an influence to enable me to control 
my impulsive, passionate nature ; how they had softened me ; how 
each had deepened me in my dependence upon the Divine Spirit, 
and now this realization brought such a sweet happiness over 
me that it made me more tender, more loving, more forgiving, and 
enabled me to be patient under the present affliction. I had 
never so fully realized what I had gained in the consecration of 
my life to the Lord's service, nor had I before ever been satisfied 
as to why some of those experiences had been permitted. Now 
I could see how they had fitted me as a testimony bearer to speak 
to conditions I met by presenting the depth of my own experience, 
and how I could alleviate the sorrows of others by a reference 
to my own, and thus see the hand of the Father leading me to 
this sweet reward for faithful obedience even when adverse con- 
ditions surrounded me. 

When the visiting committee met for organization this fall I 
requested to be relieved from service as chairman, as I saw before 
me an extended field of labor within Philadelphia Yearly Meet- 
ing, and I could not give it the proper attention, so was released 
and in the Eleventh month obtained a minute to attend some of 
the Quarterly Meetings belonging to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting 
and to appoint and attend meetings within its limit, as way might 
open. In this service I attended seven of these Quarterly Meet- 



Travels in the Ministry 215 

ings and a number of subordinate meetings and appointed several 
meetings, some out from among Friends. While there was no 
unusual incidents occuring during this service there was much 
that tended to encourage. Many hearts seemed reached and ten- 
dered, and in some of the meetings visited that had become small 
a new interest was aroused which I feel will some day bear fruit 
to the glory and honor of the Lord. 

During the summer of 1899 we attended the Yearly Meet- 
ing held in New York. A part of this meeting I sat under a 
heavy burden, in consequence of what felt to me to be a departure 
from a right and true dependence upon the guidance of the 
Divine Spirit and the making of an effort to arouse an increased 
interest in our meetings through intellectual means. The re- 
sult of which was that when the meeting closed it felt to me that 
but little had been gained in their coming together. I felt no 
commission to sound the word of warning, lest it might fall on un- 
willing and unheeding ears. About the First of Seventh month we 
started for Chicago to again visit our brother and family. Dur- 
ing that time and since I felt drawn also to attend Indiana Yearly 
Meeting and its subordinate branches prior to which we went to 
Clear Creek, Illinois, where Illinois Yearly Meeting was held, to 
visit the families of that meeting socially. During our visit of 
five days we attended their meeting, held two parlor meetings 
and visited twenty-two families socially, and I may remark here 
that since I have been engag'ed in the work of the visiting com- 
mittee in visiting the families socially I have become convinced 
that as much if not more good can be done in this way in strength- 
ening the fraternal bond among our members than by the older 
method of what are known as religious visits. I have found that 
quite a little prejudice has grown up against family visits when 
the time is devoted to preaching, and while they were and are 
accepted, they do not always leave as sweet and loving feeling 
behind them as is done when we meet in friendly social inter- 
course, care being taken that the conversation shall be instructive 
and that good lessons are left through this familiar intercourse. At 



216 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

the close of the last mentioned visit the Friend who had taken 
us around said : " John, did thee know that many of these friends 
were afraid of thee when thy visiting" was first mentioned. But 
thee had not been in their homes many minutes before that fear 
vanished and they were all very glad thee had come." This fear 
probably arising- because of my gift of reading the spiritual con- 
ditions of those among whom my lot is cast, and I am persuaded 
it often closes the way for what is intended for good. While the 
same lesson may be imparted in the course of a social visit through 
some well told anecdote which, while illustrating the truth desired 
to be conveyed, leaves the mind free to think it over after we 
have gone — free from the prejudices which the aforesaid fear 
might have engendered. 

Our visit to Indiana Yearly Meeting was very pleasant and full 
of interest. We met here our dear friend and sister in truth's 
service, Margaretta Walton, as well as some others. After the 
close of the meeting we visited all the meetings belonging to that 
Yearly Meeting but one. This involved a carriage ride of thirty 
miles and return, and neither my wife nor myself felt equal to 
the undertaking. We found the meetings small, but yet a seed 
left, which if faithful, may again gather to us. We held eight 
meetings, three on a First day in a neighborhood where there had 
been circulated by one professing with us, for some time, the 
statement that I was an infidel, and probably this had some ten- 
dency to call out the large meetings which greeted us, all of which 
were seasons of the overshadowing of the Spirit, and the testi- 
monies called forth touched and reached many hearts and dis- 
proved the false reports which had been circulated. As I was 
passing out of one of these meetings I overheard an individual 
say : " Well, there was no infidelity in what he gave us today," 
and as I reached the outer door a younger man met me and said, 
" I am a birthright member of your branch of Friends ; I had 
thought of leaving you, but I will not now." Thus will the Lord, 
through patience, lead to the overthrowing that which is some- 
times designed to injure and promote from it that which is good. 



Travels in the Ministry 217 

After our return to Baltimore, when Yearly Meeting time came, 
at the urgent solicitation of my friends, I again accepted the 
chairmanship of the visiting committee, and during the fall and 
winter of 1899 and spring of 1900 had been engaged largely in 
that work. 

I would here pen for the encouragement of some into whose 
hands this autobiography may fall, who find in the ordering of 
Divine wisdom that they are called to the work of the ministry 
with a gift similar to that- conferred upon me in which a clear 
perception of different states and conditions of the people to whom 
we are called to speak is furnished, and the command given to 
present that which is thus unfolded. This kind of a gift often 
leads its possessor into deep baptism, under which there is a 
questioning as to whether the sight given is correct, and from this 
a hesitancy in expression of the concern. As it sometimes happens, 
the call comes for expression when among those with whom we 
think we are well acquainted and we do not know of any reason 
for the concern. There have been a number of such experiences 
in the course of my ministry and years have elapsed before I had 
any confirmation of the truth or correctness of the requirement, so 
I feel best to relate here a confirmation of one of those exercises, a 
number of which are related in the preceding pages which came to 
me in the summer of 1897, and about 33 years after the testimony 
had been delivered. During that summer I met a friend with 
whom I had been acquainted for many years, but for whom I had 
never had an idea the Lord had given me a message. She asked 
me if I remembered holding* a meeting in a schoolhouse at a 
certain time 33 years previously. I said I did, for it was one of 
peculiar interest, and I shall never forget the character of the 
opening message. She then said that for two years prior to the 
holding of that meeting she had been in a melancholy state of 
mind, making herself and her family very uncomfortable, and 
while conscious of it she could not control it. She heard of the 
meeting and felt a strong desire to attend, although it was some 
seven miles from her home, and held in the evening; and while 



218 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

considering how to get there a friend came along with a spare 
seat in his carriage and offered to take her. She at once accepted 
the offer and went to the meeting. In the course of the message 
delivered she stated I spoke clearly and emphatically to her state, 
and cleared up all her questionings, and from that hour her mel- 
ancholia disappeared and had never troubled her since. For the 
past three years a number of evidences of a similar character have 
reached me and as these bring to me the deep satisfaction that I 
have been correctly led and through my faithfulness in these little 
messages of love many hearts have been comforted and enabled 
to find a sweet peace where before trouble and sorrow had dark- 
ened their lives, my heart arises in thankfulness to the dear 
Father that He gave me such a gift and enabled me to exercise it 
in faithfulness. So I would encourage any under whose eye these 
lines may come to simply follow the leadings of the Divine Spirit 
as He impresses the consciousness of their conditions upon you. 
Give your trust implicitly to Him. Do not too long call in ques- 
tion the correctness of the vision, but when it remains clear, after 
a season of waiting, give it the proper attention and faith- 
fully and lovingly leave it where it seems to belong. Guard 
closely against any impatient desire for outward confirmation, 
but leave it with Him who calls for the work to furnish the out- 
ward or inward evidence as He may see will be best for you. 

In the Sixth month, 1900, I obtained a minute for my wife and 
self to attend the approaching Half- Yearly Meeting at Fishing 
Creek, appoint some meetings within the limits of Genesee Yearly 
Meeting, and to attend Center Quarterly Meeting. 

The meeting at Fishing Creek was a very satisfactory season. 

In the afternoon, after the close of the Half- Yearly Meeting, I 
was invited to attend a funeral in our meeting-house of one who 
had been associated with the Orthodox Friends, and a number of 
that branch were present. I had considerable to say, and was 
told afterward that his friends among the other branch and some 
who were not members of either, desired me to be informed that 
my labors had been very satisfactory to them and a great com- 
fort. 



Travels in the Ministry 219 

We then went to see my aged stepmother, now in her 97th year. 
She had been blind for several years, but her faculties otherwise 
were pretty well preserved. 

After this we stayed for nearly three weeks among old friends 
in Mendon, our home for so many years, then went to Farmington, 
and held an appointed meeting at South Farmington. The meet- 
ings there were generally very small, but the house was nearly 
filled, and much expression of satisfaction was given. We then 
went to Syracuse to visit some relatives not members among us, 
and thence to the Thousand Islands, along the St. Lawrence River, 
for a couple of days. 

We enjoyed the sublime beauty of this natural scenery and its 
improvement by the art and skill of man ; and then proceeded to 
Bloomfield, Ontario, to the home of our close friends, Isaac and 
Ruth Wilson, making a stay in that neighborhood of eight days, 
in which time we attended three meetings at the meeting-house, 
one parlor meeting and one at Fish Lake, about thirteen 
miles from Bloomfield, and visited socially twenty-two families. 
We went from there to Syracuse again and thence to Scipio, in 
Cayuga county, N. Y., to visit the few friends that are left there, 
but did not see our way clear to hold any meetings. 
We returned to Mendon again for a few days, then went to 
Lockport to see my aged stepmother once more, and found she 
had failed both in mind and body perceptibly since our first visit 
to her in the early part of the summer. We then went to Niagara 
Falls to spend a few hours viewing that mighty work of nature 
and enjoy the skill of man in making" the electric road down the 
gorge beside the rushing waters. While I had seen these rapids 
often I never appreciated their power, beauty, and grandeur, as 
while riding down by them. We then went to Orchard Park, 
Erie county, to the home of Mary T. Freeman, one of my old and 
close friends of many years standing, and attended the meeting 
there on First day morning, which for that place was largely 
attended by a very mixed audience. I was largely drawn out in 



220 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

testimony, and was told after the meeting it was particularly 
appropriate to the condition of those present. 

The next day we went to Chautauqua to attend the meeting 
of the General Conference. 

This Conference as an intellectual treat was a success. The 
papers were well written and well rendered, and the discussions 
interesting. I was not a little surprised and burdened when I 
found in holding the first session called the religious confer- 
ence that it was evident there had been a carefully devised plan to 
exclude nearly all of the older recognized ministry from taking 
any part in the proceedings. Why I cannot say, but it seemed to 
me to have been a great mistake, and it very largely interfered 
with my enjoyment of the early part of the conference. Near 
its close we had two impromptu meetings down by the shore of 
this lake, one of which was called by the concern of my valued 
friend, Joel Borton, and in which at his request I participated, and 
the other was arranged by some of the young Friends for a song 
service, but which closed in a sweet religious opportunity. Both 
of these meetings left a deep impression upon the minds of the 
young people who were present. 

On Third day morning, the last day of the Conference, we left 
to reach Center Quarterly Meeting*, stopping first at Unionville 
or Bald Eagle Meeting, and visiting a number of families there, 
and holding an appointed meeting. 

The Quarterly Meeting was well attended and was felt to be 
a satisfactory season. We then returned to our home in Balti- 
more, having during an absence of ten weeks traveled 2,200 miles 
by rail, 250 by steamboat, 250 in carriages ; attended 21 meetings, 
besides 24 sessions of the Conference, and made 63 social visits in 
the families of our friends. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Travels in the Ministry. — Continued. 
Visits Within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. — I. 

In accordance with the concern expressed in the minute granted 
me by Baltimore Monthly Meeting on the Seventh of Eleventh 
month, I left my home on Fourth day morning, Twelfth month 5, 
to meet with the students at George School at their regular Fourth 
day evening meeting. Arriving there safely I was kindly met by 
George L. Maris, the principal of the school, and escorted to the 
building*. As the meeting gathered into quiet in the evening I 
was drawn to open to them the simple process by which we 
could become a Christian, and lead a Christian life, as presented 
by the blessed Jesus, in the language, " If any man will come 
after me," etc. Close attention was given, and the quiet deport- 
ment at the close of the meeting indicated that impressions for 
°*ood had been kindlv received. 

At the close of the meeting our friends Thomas and Elizabeth 
G. Stapler took me in their carriage to the home of Evan T. 
Worthington, where the Young Friends' Association was to meet. 
The exercises were well calculated to encourage to faithfulness in 
the maintenance of our principles. At the close of this meeting 
I returned with T. and E. G. S. to their hospitable home for the 
night. 

On Fifth day I attended Makefield Monthly Meeting at New- 
town, as also did Sarah T. Linvill, of Philadelphia. We each had 
considerable service in this meeting, and it closed with a sweetly 
solemn covering. After meeting I went with Barclay and Emma 
D. Eyre (who had kindly offered to take me to the different meet- 
ings in the prosecution of my concern) to the new Home in New- 



222 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

town to dine, where I met a number of the committee having the 
Home in charge, it being, as I understood, their regular day of 
meeting. I found there a building remarkably well adapted for 
its purposes, and a number of Friends who were very comfortably 
cared for. I made some calls on some of them in their rooms, 
and in a cheerful conversation endeavored to leave with them a 
little cheer and encouragement. Then in company with Emma 
Eyre, I called first on Ruth Anna Fleming, whose sister had de- 
ceased since we saw her last, then on Samuel Cadwallader. Bar- 
clay and Emma then came for me, and we drove to Dolington, 
the home of Carey Harvey and wife, where we were to take tea 
and hold a parlor meeting. At the time appointed quite a large 
number of their friends and neighbors collected, to whom the flow 
of the gospel message was full and free, and as our friends told me 
afterward, particularly adapted to the conditions of those present. 

At the conclusion of this meeting we went to the home of B. and 
E. Eyre for the night. This visit in the home of these dear 
friends will be long* remembered by me ; such congeniality and 
close sympathy with me in this to me unusual service was very 
strengthening and encouraging. 

Sixth day morning, near 9, we started out to make some calls 
on the members of Makefield Meeting, going first to the home 
of Newlin and Edith Ely. We were cordially received here, and 
in the course of a pleasant conversation some words of encour- 
agement to a more faithful attendance of our religious meetings 
were given and were well received. We then went to visit 
Franklin and Martha Buckman. Here we also endeavored 
through a social converse to bear a word of encouragement, and 
then went to Samuel Piatt's to dine. This was the old home of 
Samuel Cadwallader, by whom we were entertained on our last 
visit in this neighborhood, now nearly twenty-three years ago. 
These dear friends have not long since lost a daughter, a young 
woman, and we found a little to do in the social way to give ex- 
pression to our sympathy. 



Travels in the Ministry 223 

After dinner we made our way to Makefield meeting-house, 
where a good-sized meeting assembled, and as the message given 
was being delivered, it seemed to touch many hearts. After meet- 
ing Barclay took me to the home of Frederick Bean, whose family 
was at the meeting, but he did not come. He came into the house, 
and we had a very pleasant social visit with the family and I trust 
left some impressions for good. They are now under a deep 
sorrow, for the next evening after we were there, as Frederick 
was reading he suddenly dropped his paper and his head fell to 
one side, and on his family going to him they found that life had 
fled. This has brought to me the feeling more than ever of the 
need of constantly living so we shall be prepared for the change, 
for we know not when that will come. 

After our visit here we returned to Barclay's to tea, and in the 
evening went to visit his neighbors, Joseph and Maggie Walton, 
where we found quite an interesting family of children whom we 
tried to interest, and with whom and their parents we spent a 
pleasant hour and returned to Barclay's for the night. 

Seventh day morning they went with me to Edwin Watson's, 
on our way to Falls Monthly Meeting, and we stayed here until 
after dinner, and had with us the company of Susan and Esther 
Justice. After dinner we went with them to Fallsington to the 
Monthly Meeting, it being held at 3 p. m. Here I again met 
Sarah T. Linvill, she having a minute to attend the Monthly Meet- 
ings of Bucks Quarterly Meeting. We each had considerable 
service in much harmony, which appeared to be well received. 
After meeting we went home with Mark Palmer and wife to tea, 
and after what to us was an agreeable and satisfactory visit, 
Barclay took me to Robert Eastburn's for the night, and I was 
here very hospitably received and entertained. 

First day morning, attended the meeting at Yardley, which was 
quite large for that place, the house except the rising-seats being 
nearly filled. Very close attention was given as the message was 
being delivered, and much tenderness of feeling evinced at its 
close. After meeting I went home with Algernon S. Cadwalla- 



224 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

der, and as several of his children were at home, it was an oppor- 
tunity for enlarged acquaintance and deepening interest in each 
other. After dinner Algernon and I made a number of short calls 
on the Friends living in that borough, returning to Robert and 
Anna Eastburn's for tea and for the night. 

In the evening we attended the meeting held in the Methodist 
house, which was largely attended, and where I was given an 
opportunity for an extended message, which seemed well received. 

This closed the service for this place, and I returned to Balti- 
more on Second day. The experience in this visit has been un- 
usually satisfactory to me, my concern being to the smaller meet- 
ings and to those members who cannot or do not attend the meet- 
ings regularly. I do not feel to inquire after any reasons or to 
look for the weaknesses that may be existing, but by these visits 
to these classes to show that they are remembered, and in a genial, 
pleasant converse leave with them a word of encouragement. 
The service thus far has shown me there is much need of this 
kind of labor, and the peaceful reward that has been the covering 
of my spirit since my return has been a strength and encourage- 
ment to faithfully prosecute the work as the Master points out 
the when and where it is to be performed. 

Visits Within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. — II. 

Twelfth month 29. Left home this afternoon for the pur- 
pose of attending Abington and Horsham Monthly Meeting, the 
meetings comprising them, and visiting such families within their 
limits as way might open for. I was met at Elkins Station, on 
North Penn. Railroad, by my friend Benjamin F. Penrose, and 
taken to his hospitable home for the night. 

30th. Attended the meeting at Abington this morning. Quite 
a large number gathered, and I was led to call attention to the 
practical lessons of a religious life as presented by the Blessed 
Jesus in the Beatitudes. A deep solemnity seemed to overspread 
the meeting. After meeting I went with Benjamin F. and Alice 



Travels in the Ministry 225 

Penrose to the home of Thomas and Mary Thompson to dine, 
where I met quite a number of Friends. In the afternoon Ben- 
jamin and Alice went with me to the home of Lydia Mather, near 
Melrose Station, she being in feeble health and unable to get out. 
After a little time of a pleasant social discourse, in which a word 
of encouragement was given, we went to the home of Thomas and 
Susan Williams, who though not members are quite regular at- 
tendants of Abington Meeting. We found Thomas had been 
quite ill, and though better was still unable to go out. We next 
made a short visit in the home of Joseph and Cynthia Bosler, 
with them and their children. She being a sister of Lester Comly, 
to whom I had been much attached while he lived, we soon found 
an agreeable topic of conversation. After stopping at Thomas 
Thompson's to tea, we returned to Benjamin F. Penrose's for the 
night. 

31st. Attended Abington Monthly Meeting this morning, in 
which I had considerable service. The meeting closed under a 
solemn covering, and I think all felt it was good for us that we 
had thus joined in the Master's work. After dinner at B. F. 
Penrose's he and Alice went with me to visit some of the families 
in Jenkintown. We went first to see Emma Gaskill ; her husband, 
being in business in the city, was not at home. The duty appeared 
to cheer and encourage one under deep exercise and who had felt 
it enjoined to give expression to some messages in our meetings. 
I was glad I could feel that she had a precious gift and that I could 
encourage her to yield to it in the simple way the Master opens. 
We then called on Agnes T. Paxson and her daughters, and en- 
joyed a brief visit in conversation; then went to the home of 
Fanny Thompson, a sister-in-law of Alice Penrose, who with 
her mother Jane Twining and her daughter Carrie compose the 
family, the mother being unable to get out. We then went to the 
home of Joseph Hallowell, and here renewed an old friendship, 
remaining to tea and spending the evening, having an enjoyable, 
and I trust a profitable, visit. 

15 



226 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

First month I, igoi. There being no meeting arranged for 
to-day, we decided to occupy it in visiting several families, spend- 
ing a little time first with Alvin and Mary Haines, he being a 
recorded minister. We then drove several miles and stopped at 
the home of Elizabeth Hallowell, whose husband had been re- 
moved by death from a serious accident but a little while pre- 
viously. We endeavored to leave a word of cheer with her and 
her children. Our next call was on Martha Yerkes, and her 
daughter and husband, Howard and Caroline Mather. Martha 
was suffering from a cold, so as to be unable to get to meeting. 
Our visit appeared to be much appreciated. We then went to 
Henry W. and Margaret Hallowell's, and after visiting with them 
and his mother and sister and some other friends who were paying 
them a visit and dining, we went to the home of Esther Hallowell, 
whose husband had been removed by death since I last visited 
them. 

We drove next to the near-by home of Charles and Hannah 
Saunders, where I had previously enjoyed their kind hospitality. 
After an hour of pleasant conversation Benjamin and Alice took 
me to Willow Grove, and proceeding by train to Hatboro', I was 
kindly met by Lukens Comly and taken to his home. Here, too, 
I was among friends who had previously entertained me. I had 
known Lukens's father many years ago and had formed a strong 
attachment for him. 

2d. Attended Horsham Monthly Meeting this morning. The 
meeting was largely attended. I had extended service, which was 
followed by an impressive supplication by Anna Webster, a 
daughter of Watson Tomlinson. After meeting I went home with 
Harris and Anna Webster to dine, meeting there with Jesse 
James and wife from Byberry, and after dinner with Catharine 
Smith, the wife of Oliver Smith, she not being a member, but an 
attendant at Horsham Meeting. She had desired that a parlor 
meeting should be held in their home, to which I felt free to 
assent. 



Travels in the Ministry 227 

But prior to going there for tea and the parlor meeting, Lukens 
Comly came for me to make a few calls on some Friends who 
seldom get out to meeting, from physical inability and other 
causes. At the first place we were unable to get in, and supposed 
they were away from home. At the next place we found our 
hearts drawn out in a sympathy which the circumstances forbade 
expression of in any but general terms. In the evening a large 
number gathered in the parlor of our friends Oliver Smith and 
wife, and it proved to be an impressive occasion, many giving 
expression to their feelings of thankfulness for the opportunity. 
We returned to Lukens Comly's for the night. 

We drove this morning about three and a half miles to War- 
minster to attend an appointed meeting there. This meeting is 
usually very small, but the body of the house in which we met was 
comfortably filled, and it proved to be a very tendering season. 
After meeting we went to the home of Isaac and Elizabeth Parry, 
who live near the meeting-house. A little while after dinner, 
Warner Hallowell took me to see my old friend Hughes Warner, 
now in his 87th year, and unable to get out to meeting. He is 
staying with his son John Warner and wife Anna, some three 
or four miles from Warminster meeting-house. He seemed glad 
to see me, and was in a very pleasant frame of mind, and the 
visit was one of much interest to me. On our return we stopped 
in the home of Lewis and Sarah Walton, she not being able to 
get out to meeting, and this call seemed to be much appreciated. 
We then went to Warner Hallowell's home, where I was to be 
entertained for the night. At the close of the morning meeting 
Mitchell Wood asked me if we could not have a parlor-meeting at 
his house in the evening. The way appearing clear I assented, 
so when evening came quite a large number came, filling their 
parlor, and as the message given me was one of encouragement to 
several states it closed under a sweet solemnity. I returned to 
W. Hallowell's for the night. 

4th. About 10 a. m. we started to visit a friend, who had not 
been out at meeting for some time, owing to ill health. She seemed 



228 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

much discouraged with the feeling that she would never be any 
better. I assured her I had come to see her in a social way, and to 
bring a word of encouragement, and on parting, as I took her 
hand, she said while her eyes filled with tears, " I am so grateful 
for this call, and that thee had remembered and looked me up." 
On our return from this visit Warner and his wife Anna took me 
back into Horsham neighborhood to the home of William J. and 
Anna Hallowell, meeting here with Isaac and Elizabeth Ely, she 
a sister of William J. Hallowell We remained here until evening, 
having enjoyed the social intercourse. In the evening we had an 
appointed meeting in the Methodist house in Jarrettown. This 
meeting was well attended for that place, and as I opened what to 
me was a description of an ideal Christian life it appeared to 
arouse a deeper interest in spiritual things. After this meeting 
I went home with James Q. and Harriet Atkinson for the night. 

$th, James took me this morning to visit in the home of 
Charles Teas, now occupied by his daughter Sallie, and his daugh- 
ter-in-law Rebecca, and her daughter Ellen. The visit in this 
home revived many old memories and associations connected with 
my visit twenty-three years previously, and my acquaintance with 
Charles Teas several years prior to that. In the afternoon we had 
an appointed meeting at Upper Dublin meeting-house, which was 
well-attended, nearly every seat being filled. This meeting, too, 
was a baptizing season and I trust a profitable one. After meet- 
ing I went to the home of Joseph T. and Laura Foulke, at Ambler, 
for the night, and here had the pleasure of meeting my old friend 
Hugh Foulke and spending a pleasant evening with him and 
Joseph's family. 

6th. At meeting at Ambler this morning a good-sized, or I 
might say large meeting for that place, gathered, and I think all 
felt it was a profitable season. I was largely led into different 
phases of Christian life from the standpoint of the Friend. I 
dined at Joseph T. Foulke's, with quite a company of Friends, 
and after a season of interesting converse, took the cars for my 
home in Baltimore. 



Travels in the Ministry 229 

The retrospect of this visit, like the former one, confirms me 
in the nature of the mission given me, and has afforded me much 
satisfaction in what has been done, and a continued incentive to 
follow it in the simple way in which the Master is directing me. 

Visits Within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. — III. 

I left home to resume my work in this mission at Kennett 
Square on the morning of the 19th of this month, my wife being 
still too much indisposed to be able to accompany me. I arrived 
at Kennett about 11 a. m., and found Anna Mary Martin at the 
station to meet me and escort me to their hospitable home. She 
informed me that a number of visits had been arranged for the 
afternoon, and that John Yeatman had kindly undertaken to 
accompany me for that day. 

After dinner John came for me. We first went to the home of 
Naomi Waters and her sister Sidney Passmore, who was living 
with the two daughters of the former. These are both aged 
women ; after spending a little time with them in a cheerful con- 
versation, we next went to call on Hannah Morrison and Lydia S. 
Kelton, her daughter, and found there a neighbor, Eliza Kendall, 
and passed a pleasant half hour, endeavoring to leave a word of 
encouragement. We next called on Mary Palmer and her daugh- 
ter Laura, and here our labor was to cheer through a pleasant 
conversation, which seemed to be appreciated. Leaving these 
Friends we went to near-by neighbors, William Chalfant, and 
Sarah his wife, and also met their son and daughter. Here our 
work lay in calling attention to some results of faithful religious 
labor, intended to induce and encourage to a more frequent at- 
tendance of our religious meetings. 

It being now near night I went with John Yeatman and took 
tea with him and his wife Margaret. After a pleasant social time 
we started for one more call, this time at the home of William 
Swayne. We were cordially received and had a pleasant visit. 

First day, 20th. At the meeting in Kennett Square this morn- 
ing, the house was well filled with an attentive and appreciative 



230 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

audience. The message given was in relation to the conception of 
God as Love, and our duty to love him. After meeting I went home 
with Samuel and Deborah Pennock, and enjoyed a short visit with 
them. Samuel, now 84, entertained us in his usual cheerful 
manner. We had also the company of his nephew, Walter Tay- 
lor and wife, who though not members with Friends, seemed to 
be quite interested in the Society, and are among those who, if 
they could see their way clear to become members, could be very 
useful. 

In the afternoon the conference appointed by the Philanthropic 
Committee was held. I had been invited to explain the methods 
and work of the Anti- Saloon League as a temperance movement, 
which I did, after which there was some little discussion, mostly 
of expression of satisfaction with the explanations given. After 
meeting I went to the home of Eli and Deborah Thompson and 
Hannah C. Stubbs, to tea, Hannah being an old acquaintance and 
a member of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. This visit was one of 
much satisfaction to me and seemed also to be to them. I re- 
mained there until 8 p. m, and then Hannah and Deborah accom- 
panied me to the home of Eugene Chandler and wife, near by, 
and after a short but cordial and pleasant visit, I returned to 
Anna Mary and Sally Martin's, and was most agreeably surprised 
to find our friend Margaretta Walton had arrived, en route to 
Western Quarterly Meeting. And so in the renewal and rebind- 
ing of our long and close friendship the day closed with the feel- 
ing that it had been profitably spent. 

21st. In company with Margaretta and Anna Mary we left 
Kennett for London Grove to attend the meeting of Ministers and 
Elders of Western Quarter, and were met at Toughkenamon by 
our friend Robert L. Pyle, and were soon in his hospitable home, 
meeting there his daughters Jessie, Ellen, and Margery, and his 
mother, Orpha Pyle. I found it very pleasant to be once more in 
the home of these dear friends, with whom I had so pleasantly 
mingled a number of times previously. Attended the meeting 
of Ministers and Elders at 11 a. m. Found some labor to en- 



Travels in the Ministry 231 

courage the discouraged and to extend a caution against giving 
way to such a feeling, whether it comes from within ourselves or 
from our outlook over the Society, or over the world at large. 
The testimony appeared to meet the witness in a number of those 
present. The meeting was smaller than usual ; it was thought 
owing to the prevalence of the grippe. Returned to Robert Pyle's 
after meeting, and spent the rest of the day and evening with him 
and his family. 

2 2d. At the Quarterly Meeting to-day, which while not sc 
large as I have seen there, was well attended, considering the con- 
ditions occasioned by the epidemic of grippe. In this meeting I 
was drawn to enlarge upon the simple yet far-reaching rule laid 
down by the Blessed Jesus, as to the manner of training his dis- 
ciples, and the message called forth a number of acknowledgments 
of its acceptability. After the close of the meeting (Western 
Quarter), I returned to Robert Pyle's to dine, and there met a 
number of friends. After dinner I went into Bennett S. Walton's 
to see his wife, who was in bed with the grippe, but who was im- 
proved enough to see some of her friends. Then Robert took 
Anna Mary Martin and myself to see Deborah F. Stubbs, who was 
also confined to her room from the same ailment. After a short 
stay, and with a parting word of sympathy for her in the deep 
trial through which she has been passing, Robert took us to the 
home of Edwin and Hannah Chandler and their son-in-law, Lewis 
Eastburn and Mary. Edwin had not been well enough to get out 
to meeting. After spending a little while with them their son 
Howard came for us and took us to his home where his wife 
Elizabeth, who is a member with the Baptists, gave us with her 
husband a warm welcome. We had some pleasant religious con- 
versation with them and parted in much nearness of feeling. 

Howard then took us to Kennett Square, and left us at the 
home of Monroe and Alice Palmer, and here another warm greet- 
ing awaited us. From here we went to the home of the Martins, 
and late in the evening their brother William brought me a letter 
from my wife which informed me she had been attacked the 



232 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

second time with the prevailing epidemic, and was fearful she 
would be quite ill, but would send further particulars in the morn- 
ing. This caused me no little anxiety, as I had appointed a meet- 
ing for the next morning at Kennett Square, in order that I 
might meet the school children. After getting into a quiet frame 
of mind and seeking Divine direction I felt easy to remain to the 
meeting and then return home as quickly as I could. 

First month 23. After a somewhat restless night from anxiety 
about my dear wife, I found on arising I was more calm, and con- 
vinced I had reached a right decision. Just before meeting, in 
company with Anna Mary we called on Mary Cranston and her 
mother, Sarah Wilkinson, for a little while and then to meeting, 
which was well attended. As the testimony on the requirements 
of loving one another was borne a very deep solemnity overspread 
the meeting, and we closed under the feeling that the Lord had 
been with us and had spread a bountiful table for our enjoyment. 

As I could not take any train for home until near 3 p. m. we 
concluded to make some calls before the dinner hour, and went 
first to the Friends' Home, and were cordially welcomed by the 
matron, Mary Barnard, and then went to the room of Mary Davis, 
now 90 years of age, who was ill in bed. The other two boarders 
in the Home were also present, and a little time was spent in a 
conversation designed for their encouragement, by the selection 
of some incidents in the life of a public Friend. We went then 
to the old home of Evan T. Swayne, which has now been pur- 
chased by the Friends of Western Quarter for a permanent Home, 
and there met Sarah, the widow of Evan, and his sister Jane, 
who were entertaining some friends of the borough. This, too, 
was an enjoyable call. As soon as the train was due after dinner, 
I started for my home in Baltimore, arriving about 7.30 p. m., 
and found Eliza, while still quite ill, was improving. I thought it 
best, however, to cancel all engagements except those for next 
First-day, for the present. 

26th. I felt easy to go to Wilmington in the afternoon, so as 
to attend the appointments for to-morrow. My friend John Rich- 



Travels in the Ministry 233 

ardson met me at the train and took me to his home, where I 
have been so often hospitably entertained for the past thirty-seven 
years and whose family has become much endeared to me. 

2/th. John Richardson and his daughter Anna took me to 
Stanton this morning, where they are making laudable efforts to 
revive their small meeting. A good-sized meeting gathered, over 
which a deep solemnity settled, as the message regarding the 
Friends' view of salvation was presented. Satisfaction was ex- 
pressed. One woman, a Methodist, said I had cleared up points 
on which she had desired information. After meeting we went 
home with John A. Cranston to dine, and after a pleasant visit, 
at 3 p. m., we wended our way to the Methodist church, where 
a meeting had been appointed. A large meeting for the place 
gathered, and in a quiet and attentive manner listened to the 
unfolding of the view presented by me of a true Christian life. The 
meeting closed with an appropriate and feeling prayer by their 
minister, and evidences were given that it had been owned by the 
Master of all rightly-gathered assemblies. 

I went home again with John Richardson, where we had the 
company of William P. Bancroft and wife, Emma, to tea, and then 
we were soon on our way for the evening meeting in Wilmington, 
at the Friends' house. It was largely attended, and as the ideas of 
true religion were presented with its application to our every- 
day life, it was listened to with deep attention. I went home with 
William P. Bancroft and wife for the night, and retired with the 
feeling that though the day had been full it had been well spent, 
and the sweet reward of peace covered my spirit. Next morning 
I returned to Baltimore to find Eliza still improving, though only 
able to sit up a little. 

Visits in Philadelphia Y. M. — IV. 

Second month 19. Eliza having so far recovered that we felt 
it would be prudent for her to accompany me, we left Baltimore 
this morning, and were met at the station at Wilmington by our 



234 



Autobiography of John J. Cornell 



friend, John Richardson, and a little after the noon hour were 
welcomed into his home. In the afternoon John took me about 
four miles to the home of William Cranston, at Stanton. Having 
knowledge of our coming, the family were ready to receive us, 
and we passed a pleasant hour with them, I believe to mutual 
satisfaction. We then went to Newport, and called at the home 
of John and Fannie Mendenhall. There we had another warm 
greeting and another enjoyable visit. We learned that our meet- 
ing here (First month 27) had been much appreciated. We returned 
to the home of John Richardson and passed the evening in the 
company of his family, renewing and strengthening the bonds of 
our long-maintained friendship. 

20th. As we awakened this morning we found a clear sky, 
though somewhat cold atmosphere. Eliza was feeling better, and 
had not taken cold in her trip of yesterday, but did not yet feel 
strong enough to enter with me into the visiting. Leaving her 
in the hands of these kind friends, in company of Mary Richard- 
son we started out, going first to the home of Elizabeth B. Hilles, 
the daughter of Eli Hilles. She has recently lost by death a 
cousin who lived with her and on whom she had depended. We 
endeavored to leave a word of cheer and encouragement. Our 
next call was at the home of Hannah Phillips and her sister Eliza 
Watson, and Hannah's married daughter, Albina Thompson. We 
also met here their sister-in-law, Martha Watson, widow of 
Joseph W. H. Watson, formerly of Newport. The opening here 
appeared to bring in a little cheer ; the visit called up a number 
of incidents from which I could draw lessons of encouragement. 

We next went to the home of Emma Worrell, whose mother, 
now nearly 92 years old, was unable to see us this morning, but 
we had a very pleasant interview with Emma and her sister, who 
happened to be there when we called. Our conversation called 
up many reminiscences on both sides. We returned to the Rich- 
ardson homes and dined with Sarah Richardson and her daughter. 
John's wife, Martha, who has been confined to the house for 
some weeks, ventured out, as it was so near by. After dinner 



Travels in the Ministry 235 

John Richardson took me to the home of William and Mary 
Ferris, and here we spent the time in conversing upon some 
religious topics, I trust not unprofitably. We then went to the 
home of Martha and David Ferris and his daughter, Matilda, — 
David not being at home. We had a number of mutual acquaint- 
ances in New York State, and as I am somewhat connected with 
David's family, through marriage, I was able to give Matilda some 
information of her friends. We returned to John Richardson's 
for the night, and met with and enjoyed the company of his 
brother-in-law, Edward Andrews and his wife, Agnes. 

21st. Another bright morning, though cold. We bade our 
dear friends who had been so kind to us a loving farewell, Mary 
Richardson again taking us in charge. We went first to the home 
of Ezra and Philena Fell, and after a pleasant and social visit, 
next to the home of Frank and Mary Taylor, which is also the 
home of' Elizabeth, the widow of Clarkson Taylor. As these were 
old acquaintances we were soon engaged in pleasant converse. 
Emma C. Bancroft presently arrived and took us in charge and 
went with us to the home of Lydia Taylor and family, and then 
to call on Margaret Bringhurst. At each of these places there 
seemed to be occasion for some cheerful conversation. We then 
went to William Bancroft's to dine. After dinner Emma and I 
started out, and went first to the home of Chandler and Josephine 
Way. Chandler is in feeble health and his wife had also been 
affected with the prevailing grippe, but we were soon interested in 
some incidents in my experience which as I related them appeared 
to brighten up the feelings. We next called on Caroline Oakford. 
Here we found one who drew upon our sympathetic feelings, as 
she had but recently lost a sister and was now living alone. Then 
called on William and Rebecca King, at the home of their chil- 
dren, John and Ida Evans. William and Rebecca are from Lan- 
caster county, Pa., members of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and 
old acquaintances. William is at present in poor health, though 
not a very old man. There again our mission was to cheer and 
encourage. We next called on Elizabeth Pusey, one of those 



236 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

advanced in life, and had a pleasant and cheerful word for her. 
Our next call was on Margaret Dixon. We soon entered into 
pleasant conversation, each gathering from it some information, 
I trust, that was profitable. Returning to William P. Bancroft's, 
in the evening we all went over to visit his brother Samuel, who 
lives near, and passed an hour or so pleasantly with him and his 
wife, Mary, and some visitors who happened to be present. 

22d. William Bancroft took me in charge to-day. Eliza re- 
mained within doors, as we had several quite severe snow squalls. 
We went first to the home of Lydia Reynolds, now in her 91st 
year, and found her, though one of the " shut-ins/' very cheerful. 
Then went to the home of Charles and Anna Way. She being a 
native of Loudon county, Va. (the daughter of Eliza Hoge), we 
found we had many acquaintances in common, and the time soon 
passed. We next called on Emeline Lewis, who formerly lived 
near Kennett Square, Pa. This, too, was an enjoyable call ; we 
found a word to encourage to attendance of meeting. We then 
drove to the beautiful home of Edward and Annie Bringhurst. 
They being apprised of our coming, were at home. We enjoyed 
the call very much, and returned to William's to dine, stopping 
on our way at the public library in the city, and I was there sur- 
prised to meet a young man whose parents live in Mendon, N. Y., 
and with whom I had long been acquainted.' 

After dinner we drove first to the home of Granville and Mary 
Eva Hoopes, children of Albert and Deborah Hoopes, who are 
members of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. We had a short but 
pleasant visit here. They keep a grocery store, and their busi- 
ness claimed Granville's attention, so we did not prolong our stay. 
We then called on Henry Garrett, who is now 76 years of age and 
in somewhat feeble health. He lost his wife but a few months 
since, and so we found a work to carry some consoling words to 
him. We next called on James W. Hoopes and family, he being 
the only member among Friends. Here, too, we found a " shut- 
in," from bodily weakness, and another heart needing cheer. We 
then called on William and Alice and Rebecca Hatton. They are 



Travels in the Ministry 237 

advanced in years, but who, excepting during the after effects of 
the epidemic, get out to meeting. Our visit here called up some 
reminiscences that were designed to uplift and encourage. We 
next called on Mary Hendrickson, and after a time of cheerful 
converse, went to the home of Frank and Mary Taylor, where we 
had previously been invited to tea. 

After tea we wended our way to the meeting-house to attend 
their monthly meeting. About fifty were present. I had some 
service in the first meeting from the text, " Bear ye one another's 
burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." Then returned with 
William and Emma Bancroft for the night. 

23d. Emma started out with us, and we first went to the home 
of Albert and Deborah Hoopes, who are living with their son 
Dillwyn and his wife, Jennie. As we were old acquaintances we 
soon found subjects of common interest upon which to converse, 
and the half hour passed very rapidly and pleasantly. We then 
called on Mary Ann Fulton, whom we found very cheerful and 
bright, though not now able to get out much. Our next call was 
at the home of Mary B. Pyle, with whom we had some previous 
acquaintance, and with whom we had a very agreeable visit. We 
next went to the home of Hannah E. Davis Over this home 
sorrow was resting, because of the recent removal by death of a 
loved son on whom the family had largely depended. The ex- 
presssion of sympathy and consolation, seeking to draw to the 
one source of strength, seemed the duty here. We then went to 
the home of Hannah Heald and John and Lucy Satterthwaite, 
and after some pleasant converse then to the home of John and 
Florence Hall Phillips to dine. 

After dinner William Bancroft took charge of the afternoon 
visits, going first to call on his cousin Esther Albertson and her 
friend Abby Speakman, and after some interesting conversation, 
in which serious questions arose, we went to another cousin of 
William's, Anna Sellers. This, too, was a visit in which there 
was a full and free social converse, with some lessons of encour- 
agement. We next called on Susan Williams, an elderly woman, 



238 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

and after leaving a word of cheer called on Mary Hoopes and her 
daughters Eliza Kennard and Mary Hoopes, and left them, hop- 
ing we had brought a ray of spiritual sunshine into their home. 
William then took me to the home of my friend, Edward 
Andrews and his wife and sisters, (where Eliza met me), and 
with whom we were to pass the night. They are none of them 
members of our Society, but have for years welcomed us into 
their home, where we were agreeably and hospitably entertained. 

24th. We were in attendance at the meeting at Wilmington 
this morning. It was well attended, many being present not of 
our fold. The service required seemed to be to open the method 
and means of living a true Christian life as taught by the Blessed 
Jesus. A deep solemnity had gathered over the meeting as I 
closed my vocal service, and an appropriate supplication was 
offered by Ezra Fell. We returned to Edward Andrews's to dine, 
and to visit our dear friends John and Martha Richardson. After 
dinner William Bancroft came for me to visit some of those 
whom we could not find at home on week-days, and in the course 
of the afternoon we called on Linton Smith, Caleb Sheward, son 
of Thomas W. Sheward, and Howell S. England and his wife. 
Howell is a member of the other branch, and she of ours. We 
also called on Julius B. Robinson, and on Thomas W. Sheward 
and wife (he being absent, visiting his aged mother), and on 
Joseph A. Richardson and his sister-in-law, Sarah S. Richardson. 
In all of these visits, as in former ones, we found a word of cheer 
and encouragement to leave. Returned to William Bancroft's 
for the night. 

25th. A clear, bright, cold but pleasant morning, Eliza feeling 
well enough to accompany Emma and myself on our concluding 
round of visits, we called on Irene Pierson, Amanda and Richard 
Greer, Amy and Mary Chambers, Francis Newlin and his cousin 
Margaret Reeves, and on two young married women, Edith 
Thomas and Margaret Reinhart. At each place we found a word 
which appeared to be adapted to the different conditions. We 
returned to William Bancroft's to dine and then after a pleasant 



Travels in the Ministry 239 

converse with the family took the train for Baltimore, arriving 
there safely and with my dear wife much improved for the trip. 

The retrospective impression of this visit, as with the others 
previously reported, is satisfactory. Though the mission is of 
a different character from any heretofore required of me, yet the 
pleasant greetings given in each home, the gratitude expressed by 
the visited, the sweet comfort in the reflection that I had been the 
instrument, if but for a short time, to brighten the lives of some 
under sorrow, or who are passing through the deprivations which 
advancing age and feebleness of body bring, made the endeavor 
one of unusual satisfaction. 



Visits in Philadelphia Y. M. — V. 

Third month 2. Having acceeded to the request of Friends in 
Salem, New Jersey, to explain the methods and work of the Anti- 
Saloon League, I felt that I could also visit the families of Friends 
in that city without too much exposure. We therefore went to 
Salem to-day, and were met at the station by Sarah F. Pettit and 
taken to their hospitable home. In the evening quite a company 
of Friends gathered in this home, and it proved to be an occasion 
of much social enjoyment. Quite a large meeting gathered at the 
meeting-house, and as the Gospel message was delivered it seemed 
to find a lodgment in many hearts. On our way homeward to 
Woodnutt and Sarah F. Pettit's we called first on her brother, 
William Ware, and his wife, and then upon her sisters in the same 
house, Mary Mulford and Anna Ware. After dinner we went, 
first to call on Rachel M. Goodwin, one of the " shut-ins," leaving 
there a word of good cheer, and I trust of encouragement. We 
next called on Susan Bassett, who lives with her daughter Cor- 
nelia, and her husband, Richard Wistar. After spending a half 
hour or so in a pleasant converse, we went to the home of William 
and Anna Wander, she being a member, and next called on Mary 
and Anna L. Fogg, and one of the elders of the meeting, Sarah 



240 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Wilson, also met us there. We trust that in the free and kindly 
converse which followed some thoughts which would tend to uplift 
and encourage were given expression. 

In the evening another large meeting gathered by appointment, 
at the meeting-house, and as the truth as given for expression was 
unfolded, a deep interest was manifested, and a sweet and precious 
solemnity overspread the meeting. Some not in membership 
were present. We returned to the home of our kind friends for 
the night, feeling that though the day had been full of labor, it 
had been one of blessing. 

4th. We first called on Mary Robinson and her daughter 
Rachel. Mary is very deaf, but has a sweet, cheerful spirit, and 
I think we secured as much benefit as we gave. I must mention 
one remark of hers which seemed to me to be so helpful for 
those who are more or less afflicted. She said, " I am very happy, 
and why should I not be? I can think good and beautiful 
thoughts, if I cannot hear." What a lesson, I thought, for many 
who are deprived of much social enjoyment ! The secret of hap- 
piness lies within. How much of repining it would often save 
if we would only remember that amid all our sorrows and trials 
we still can think good and beautiful thoughts, and thus find a 
bright side of life. 

We next called on our aged friend Sarah Acton and her daugh- 
ters, Elizabeth J. Acton and Sarah Hilliard, wife of Bernard Hil- 
liard, also a daughter-in-law, and had an enjoyable, and I believe, 
a profitable vist — Sarah so cheerful and surrounded by such kind 
and devoted caretakers, making her declining years pass as 
smoothly as love and devotion can. We then went to the home 
of Richard and Anna Bassett, and spent a little while with them 
in cheerful conversation. Thence to the home of John M. and 
Anna Carpenter, and had in both homes enjoyable visits. 

After dinner, still accompanied by Sarah Pettit, we visited 
Mary Thompson and Anna Hall. Mary, now in her o,2d year, is 
not yet one of the " shut-ins." So bright and cheerful, it was a 
real pleasure to be in her company, and our visit seemed to be 



Travels in the Ministry 241 

much appreciated. We then called on Joseph K. and Elizabeth 
Waddington, the daughter of my old friend, John Zorns, and then 
went again to Susan Bassett's, and Richard and Cornelia Wistar's 
where we had been invited to tea. After tea and much pleasant 
social intercourse we repaired to the meeting-house, where a meet- 
ing had been arranged by the Philanthropic Committee to hear of 
the work and methods of the Anti-Saloon League. A large and 
representative meeting of the citizens of the city gathered and 
listened attentively to the address made. After meting we re- 
turned with our friends, the Pettits, for the night. 

Third month 5. This morning our friend Jonathan K. Brad- 
way came with his carriage for us and took us first to call on 
Joshua and Anna Waddington and their daughter Jennie, who was 
at home. These were old acquaintances, and our call was a very 
agreeable one. We then went with Jonathan to his home and 
were cordially entertained by him, his wife Lydia and their daugh- 
ter and her husband, Lydia B. and Elmer Griscom. After stay- 
ing here to dinner and renewing a friendship of several years' 
standing, when the time came for us to return to Salem, quite a 
severe snow-squall came up, rendering our trip somewhat un- 
pleasant and exposing. 

Jonathan took us to the home of David B. Bullock and wife, 
and after a short visit with the family David came in and we were 
soon on our way to see some more of the friends, calling first 
on William and Lillian Morris and Ruth Waddington, and next 
at the home of Hannah Ann Bassett and her daughter Anna. 
Hannah is the widow of Elisha Bassett, and they had previously 
entertained me during her husband's life. It was pleasant once 
more to be greeted by her and as far as lay in our power contrib- 
ute a little to encourage and cheer. 

We then went to see Hannah and Rebecca Hall, and their sister. 
I had first met Rebecca in 1878, when caring for Abigail Paul in 
her long illness, and again in New York at the home of William 
Macy, a number of years since. She is now an invalid, but it 
was a pleasure to be in her company once more, as well as that of 

16 



242 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

her sister, and in this social way to have an encouraging word and 
help bring, perhaps, a ray of life's sunshine. We returned to David 
B. Bullock's for tea, and to attend a parlor meeting which had 
been arranged for by these kind friends. In this a service seemed 
to be required which appeared to be well received, and we closed it 
with the feeling that it had been good for us to have thus met to- 
gether. 

6th. It being the regular week-day meeting at Salem to-day, 
we found quite a good-sized meeting for the middle of the week 
gathered. A message was given, I trust to the edification of those 
assembled. Soon after the meeting closed we took the cars for 
Woodstown to attend the Quarterly Meeting of ministers and 
elders, to be held that afternoon. We were met at the station at 
Woodstown by Edwin L. Borton, with whom we stayed the night. 
The meeting of ministers and elders was one of deep feeling. I 
was drawn to extend a word of encouragement to each to attend 
to his or her individual duty, not to measure our gifts nor the 
character of the labor given us by those given to another, but 
simply to do the Master's bidding, leaving results in his hand. 

In the evening a conference was held under the auspices of 
the Philanthropic Committee, in which the two topics of the at- 
titude of the Government on Peace and Temperance had been 
arranged for. Unexpectedly to me, I was asked to address the 
meeting upon the latter subject, though I had taken some part in 
the former. I think it was generally felt to be an interesting oc- 
casion, and that while there were many discouraging aspects re- 
lating to both subjects, yet on the whole the outlook was hopeful 
if not promising. 

yth. Attended the Quarterly Meeting to-day, and as I see by 
the Intelligencer some account of it from W T oodstown, and by the 
letter of my friend Isaac Wilson and his wife, whom it afforded 
us much pleasure to meet, I need not repeat what has been writ- 
ten. It was to me a very satisfactory season. After meeting we 
went with our friends Joel Borton and wife to Dr. Allen's, where 
we met quite a number of the quarterly meeting friends. Then 



Travels in the Ministry 243 

after making a call on some friends who did not get out to meet- 
ing that day went home with Joel and wife for the night. As 
Isaac has noted, we had quite a company of friends for the eve- 
ning with whom we enjoyed the flow of pleasant, and I trust 
profitable conversation, and after a short testimony from Isaac 
we parted in tenderness of feeling. 

8th. We parted with our kind hosts and their interesting fam- 
ily about 9 a. m., and returned that day to our home in Baltimore, 
feeling strengthened and encouraged in the mission before us 
which has thus far been fraught with so much satisfaction, and 
with feelings of gratitude that the Master has fitted us to carry 
some rays of love and cheer into many homes. 

With recuperated health and strength my wife and I have 
again entered upon the mission as expressed in our previous 
minute, by the attendance of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. As 
a detailed account of that meeting has already appeared, I need 
only say here that to us it was a season of much spiritual enjoy- 
ment, and the kind greetings that were given in both public and 
private touched our hearts and called forth our gratitude to the 
Heavenly Father for permitting us so much of loving tenderness 
and appreciation of the service unto which we believe He has 
called us. 

As the meeting closed we went home with Isaac H. and Anna 
Hillborn for the night, and in their congenial company passed 
the evening with some other friends who came in. On Seventh- 
day morning we returned to the home of our friends John L. and 
Emily T. Longstreth, who had cared for us during the yearly 
meeting. 

On First-day, the 19th, we proceeded to Bird-in-Hand (Lam- 
peter Meeting), and were met at the station by Sarah Miller, 
wife of Dr. Miller, and taken to their hospitable home. Next 
morning, as it had been thought best not to hold the meeting at 
Lampeter until 2.30 in the afternoon, Daniel Gibbons came for us 
to lunch at the home of himself and sister, Marianna Gibbons, 



244 



Autobiography of John J. Cornell 



this home is one of the old landmarks of this part of the country. 
Here we met Francis Whitson, of Christiana, and Elizabeth Lloyd. 
At meeting time an unexpected number gathered, and the meeting 
proved a season of much satisfaction. 

After meeting we returned to Dr. Miller's to take the train to 
Lancaster, where a meeting had been appointed for the evening. 
On arriving at Lancaster we were met by Milton T. Garvin, and 
taken to his home to tea. At the time appointed, about 150 
assembled and the duty of love as evidenced in the Christian life 
was unfolded in the message given. It was listened to with deep 
attention as well as the short but pertinent testimony of Elizabeth 
Lloyd. Much expression of satisfaction was given at the close 
of the meeting. We went with Elizabeth B., wife of William W. 
Griest, to their home for the night, and had also the company of 
Elizabeth Lloyd here. 

On Second day we returned to our home in Baltimore for 
a little rest and the needed preparations for starting again for the 
meetings that had been arranged for. 

We left Baltimore Fifth month 29, for Gwynedd, Pa., and ar- 
riving there were taken by Florence Jenkins to the home of Hor- 
ace Brinton, with whom and his family we had an enjoyable visit. 
We went to the home of Howard M. and Mary Anna Jenkins for 
tea, and in the evening attended a meeting at North Wales, in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. The weather was inclement 
and the meeting small, but the message given appeared to be ac- 
ceptable to those assembled. 

On First day we went to meeeting- at Gywnedd, where a goodly 
number had assembled for that place, and as the message given 
was delivered a sweet and precious solemnity gathered over the 
meeting. The First day school was held, after a short recess, and 
appeared to be a season of benefit, as far as an onlooker could 
judge. After the close of the school we went home with Walter 
and Esther Jenkins, meeting there our friends Joseph T. Foulke 
and wife. Soon after, Richard and Martha Roberts took us to 
Plymouth, where we found the house nearly filled, notwithstanrl- 



Travels in the Ministry 245 

ing the rain. The view of Friends upon the subject of salva- 
was presented at this meeting. After its close we went to 
the home of George and Elizabeth Corson for the night, where 
we also met his aged mother and sister. 

On Second day morning Chalkley Styer took me to visit Joseph 
Walton and his daughter Anna, at whose home we met Mary 
Shoemaker. We then visited John Park and his wife Ella, and 
Sarah Shoemaker (now in her eighty-fourth year) and her chil- 
dren, returning to George Corson's for dinner. During these 
visits we had cheerful conversation, and left words of encourage- 
ment in the attendance of meetings and the performance of other 
religious duties. In the afternoon William Potts Jones, of Con- 
shohocken, took us to his hospitable home, where we were wel- 
comed by his wife Elizabeth, and his sister Lillian Jones. In the 
evening we held a parlor meeting, in which there was some deep 
searching of spirit, leaving the feeling that the opportunity had 
been one of blessing. 

On Third day William P. Jones took us to Norristown, to the 
home of George and Sarah Wood. After dinner we visited Han- 
nah Schultz, who has long been an invalid, and is now over eighty 
years of age. Some friends had gathered in, and we had a sitting 
with them, during which encouraging testimony was given, which 
seemed to be grateful to the invalid. We then went to the home 
of Matilda Andrews, also an invalid, but bright and cheerful, after 
which, in company with Susan Y. Foulke, we visited Martha 
Yerkes, now in her eighty-eighth year. Having had interesting 
conversation, we went home with Susan for tea and a little rest. 
In the evening there was an appointed meeting at the Friends' 
Home, where many had gathered. As the message — relating to 
the nature, object, and effect of true religion — was delivered, close 
attention was paid, and at the close satisfaction was expressed 
for the opportunity. 

We left Norristown Fourth day morning, by railway, on our 
way to Buckingham, by way of Doylestown, where our friend T. 
O. Atkinson kindly met us,and sent us in his carriage to the 



246 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

meeting-house, six miles distant, to attend the Quarterly Meeting 
of Ministers and Elders. This, in consequence of the heavy rains, 
was smaller than usual. I had a little service in the meeting by 
way of encouragement, but a spirit of sadness settled on my spirit 
when the answers to queries showed that there was only one rec- 
orded minister in this large Quarterly Meeting. After meeting 
we went home with T. Howard Atkinson for the night, who, with 
his family, gave us a warm welcome. 

The Quarterly Meeting on Fifth day was large, although it was 
thought the state of the roads and it being " Decoration Day," 
kept many away. Close attention was given to the message de- 
livered, in which they were counseled to a closer study of our 
natures and their capabilities. Many kindly greetings were given 
at the close of the routine business of the meeting, all of which 
was conducted in much harmony. 

The day after the quarterly meeting (Bucks), being 31st of 
Fifth month, we spent the morning at the hospitable home of T. 
Howard Atkinson, and in the afternoon went to Henry and Eme- 
line Watson's. Unexpectedly to us, a number of their neighbors 
gathered in, and we held a satisfactory parlor meeting. Then, 
after a little time of social mingling, we went to Doylestown, to 
the home of T. O. Atkinson, to tea. A meeting having been 
appointed for the evening at 8, at that hour the meeting-house 
was nearly filled. The testimony was along the lines of practical 
religion as taught by Jesus, and was listened to with close atten- 
tion. We returned to T. Howard Atkinson's for the night. 

Sixth month 1. We made calls this morning, one on Anna 
Atkinson and her daughters, and one on Anna Jane Williams, who 
also had two daughters at home. Both were pleasant visits to us. 
In the afternoon we first attended the closing exercises of the 
Hughesian Free School, at Centreville, near-by, and at the request 
of our host took a little part in the interesting occasion. We then 
went to the home of Lewis and Emma Fell, and met also their 
two sons. Emma proposed that I call upon Anna Meredith who 
lived next door and who has been an invalid for a number of 



Travels in the Ministry 247 

years from rheumatism. I endeavored to leave with her a word 
of cheer. 

2d. A bright and invigorating morning. We much enjoyed 
our ride through the beautiful and finely cultivated country on 
our way to Plumstead Meeting. At the meeting hour a goodly 
number assembled, and as the message was being delivered in 
which their attention was called to the loving teachings of Jesus, 
a precious solemnity spread over the meeting, under which we 
closed. After meeting we went betwen three and four miles to 
Carversville to the home of Augustus and Hannah Pickering, 
where we were kindly entertained. At 3 p. m. we wended our 
way to the Christian Church, at which a meeting had been ap- 
pointed. Another good-sized meeting gathered, and again as the 
message from the answer made by Jesus to the young man who 
inquired " What Shall I do to Inherit Eternal Life?" was given, 
a precious solemnity spread over the meeting. Those present 
were mostly of other societies than our own. 

3d. Attended Buckingham Monthly Meeting to-day. Quite 
a number gathered, to whom a gospel message upon the nature, 
object, and effect of true religion was given with an especial ap- 
peal to the young who were present from the school. After the 
meeting we went home with Horace and Fanny Broadhurst to 
dine and with them and their family of children had an interesting 
visit. We then called upon Joseph and Sarah Watson, and after 
a social visit with them went to the home of Harriet Worthing- 
ton to tea, where a small company of her children and companion 
of one of them and his mother met us, and with them the time 
passed pleasantly until the hour of meeting, which had been ap- 
pointed for the evening in Centreville, the village in which they 
live. The hall in which the meeting was held was nearly filled 
with an appreciative audience, and it proved to be another season 
of spiritual blessing. 

4th. We had an enjoyable ride through the country this morn- 
ing on the way to Solebury Monthly Meeting, at which quite a 
goodly number of Friends and others gathered. Here again as 



248 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

the message given was delivered a precious solemnity overspread 
us, under which the business of the meeting was entered upon 
and conducted with great harmony. After meeting our friend 
John S. Williams took us to Joseph and Sarah Simpson's to dine, 
and we spent the afternoon in their company and with her mother, 
Macre Eyre, now confined to the house from a fractured limb. 
As evening approached our friend J. S. Williams and daughter 
Agnes came for us and took us to Lambertville, where a meet- 
ing had been appointed for the evening. Near the appointed 
time the house became well filled. The testimony offered related 
to the question, What constitutes a Christian from the standpoint 
of the Friend? 

$th. We had another enjoyable ride of about six miles this 
morning to the home of Lewis and Alice Walton. Alice was for- 
merly of Baltimore, and one of our valued friends, and it was 
pleasant to meet her in her new home. On our return we stop- 
ped at the Ingham Spring, at which place a large volume of water 
comes out of the limestone rock and furnishes power for about 
five mills of different kinds before it reaches the Delaware river. 
The water is clear and cold, and we enjoyed a hearty drink of it. 
Returned to J. S. Williams' to dine, and then were soon on our 
way to Wrightstown to attend their Monthly Meeting. It being 
a very busy season, and the farmers having been delayed in their 
planting by the previous wet weather, a small number of men 
were present, but a good attendance of women. I had a close 
exercise in this meeting leading to encouraging some who, be- 
cause of a too literal reading of the Scriptures, were dwelling 
under discouragement. It seemed to leave a deep impression on 
many minds. On our return to J. S. Williams' for the night we 
made a pleasant call on Anna Smith and her sister Hannah Alte- 
mus, and their nephew, George Brown and his wife. 

6th. Our friend J. S. Williams took us this morning to call on 
Oliver and Cynthia S. Holcomb, as she had not been able to at- 
tend any of the meetings owing to the illness of a sister. We 
then went to the Friends' Home at Newtown, it being the time of 



Travels in the Ministry 249 

the meeting of the committee. This visit was peculiarly interest- 
ing and gratifying to us. After the committee adjourned our 
friends took us to the home of George and Jennie Atkinson, at 
Wrightstown. A meeting for Friends and others in the neighbor- 
hood having been appointed at their home in the evening, between 
50 and 60 gathered, and it was found to be a baptizing season. 

yth. We came home to Baltimore to-day feeling well repaid 
for the labor performed. This closes our work in Philadelphia 
for the present, or until after we get through with the meetings 
in New York Yearly Meeting. 

We left Baltimore this morning, Sixth month 17, to take up 
the mission which has seemed to be required of us within New 
York Yearly Meeting, and went directly to Jericho, L. I., to 
the old home of my dear friend, Daniel Underhill, where we were 
most cordially received by his widow, Catherine, and his son, 
Samuel J. Underhill, and family. 

The next afternoon we called on Edward Willis and his daugh- 
ter, Henrietta Underhill, and at the home of William Willetts, 
but found only his daughter, Elizabeth, at home ; then, at the home 
of Sarah Robbins and her two daughters, at each place meeting 
with a cordial reception. Our friend, S. J. Underhill, took us the 
next morning to the home of Catherine Willetts, with whom we 
went to Westbury Monthly Meeting, held at Manhasset. The 
meeting, though not large, was lively and interesting, and among 
the signs of encouragement were the reception of one new member 
the previous month and the application for membership from an- 
other. After meeting we went home with James R. and Anna 
Willetts, where we met a number of Friends. 

We then went with Catherine Willets to call on Mary Wright 
and Mary Anna Chapman, of Brooklyn, in their country home, 
who received us with a cordial welcome. Thence we went home 
with Catharine to tea, where we met several others, and returned 
to S. J. Underbill's for the night. 



250 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

On the 20th we called on Sarah, widow of Isaac Ketcham, and 
Mary Allen, who lives with Sarah, and then on Caroline Wil- 
letts and her sister Mary, on our way to attend the monthly meet- 
ing at Jericho, which was small but was thought to be a favored 
season. After meeting we went to the home of Elias and Phebe 
Seaman to dine, and toward evening to the home of Lydia Wil- 
letts, and her daughters, Charlotte and Amy. The retrospect of 
the day was satisfactory, with the feeling that it had been well 
spent. 

On the 2 1st we visited Solomon and Esther Jackson, and in 
the afternoon went to the Locust Valley School, to attend the 
commencement, in the exercises of which I had been invited to 
make the address. The recitations and other exercises were very 
creditable, showing care upon the part of the teachers and much 
attention by the scholars. My own address, on " The Develop- 
ment of an Ideal Character," was well received, so that the occa- 
sion was one of deep interest. 

The next day Elias and Phebe Seaman took us to Bethpage, 
where a meeting had been appointed at 11 o'clock. It was a 
good-sized meeting for the place and much satisfaction expressed 
that we had been willing to come among them. After meeting 
we went to John C. Merritt's, and after resting went on to Jeru- 
salem, where a meeting had been appointed for the afternoon. The 
meeting has been discontinued at this place, but a goodly number 
came out, and seemed not only interested but gladdened to once 
more have a meeting among them. I presented the practical duties 
of religion and how much more strongly we could exert an in- 
fluence through organized effort, encouraging the few Friends 
here to resume their meeting. 

First day morning, the 23d, was bright and beautiful, but warm. 
S. J. Underhill and wife took us to Westbury Meeting. Notice 
having been given, a goodly number were present, and as the 
message was upon our idea of practical righteousness a close atten- 
tion was given, and many expressed their feeling of thankfulness 
for such a good meeting. In the afternoon we attended a meet- 



. Travels in the Ministry 251 

ing at Jericho which had been appointed, and which was also well 
attended. As in the morning, there were many expressions of 
gratitude for the opportunity. 

Sixth month 24. Called on Lydia and Amy Willets this morn- 
ing, and then went to Westbury to visit Edward and Emma 
Hicks (son of Isaac Hicks), and his family, including their son, 
Henry and wife Caroline. After a very pleasant visit S. J Under- 
bill took us to the home of Frederick E. Willets, near Glen Cove, 
from whom and his daughter and son we received a cordial wel- 
come. In the evening about fifty gathered for a meeting, which 
was held on their capacious piazza. The testimony delivered ap- 
peared to find a place and give encouragement. We remained 
there over night. 

25th. We went this morning to call first on Mary Jane Willets 
and son Charles. She was an old acquaintance of mine, at one 
time a member of Rochester Monthly Meeting, where I belonged 
for so many years, and as we called up our mutual acquaintances 
who have long since passed from earth, it awakened pleasant 
memories. From there we proceeded to the home of Hannah 
Cock, and were there met by Augustus and Elizabeth Cock ; re- 
mained to dinner. In the afternoon Augustus and wife went with 
us to Seacliff to call on Daniel Banks and his family. We soon 
found we had many acquaintances in common and had a very 
agreeable visit, returning to Hannah Cock's to tea ; soon after 
F. E. Willets came for us and took us to Mary Underbill's, where a 
parlor meeting had been arranged. Some twenty or twenty-five 
gathered. At the conclusion of the meeting we spent a little time 
in social converse with Mary and her daughter and son, who were 
at home, and then returned to F. E. Willets' for the night with a 
feeling that the day's service had been blessed. 

26th. F. E. Willets sent us to S. J. Underbill's at Jericho this 
morning, and after resting awhile we left for Bayville where we 
were met by Abraham and Melissa R. Bell, and taken to the home 
of Frederick and Anna Storm, with whom we had a short but 
agreeable visit. They then gave us a ride to Willets' Point which 



252 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

we much enjoyed. The beautiful scenery, adorned by the fine 
dwellings overlooking the East River and Little Neck Bay, the 
exhilarating atmosphere, all made the ride very pleasant to. us. 
They took us to their home where after tea a few gathered in and 
we had a sweet season of religious communion together. Re- 
mained here for the night. 

27th. Abraham and Melissa R. Bell took us this morning to see 
some of the interesting places in and about Flushing on our way 
to their usual mid-week meeting, which was better attended than 
we had anticipated, though there were but few men. After meet- 
ing we went to William and Phebe Frame's who with their daugh- 
ter, Katharine, entertained us until evening. The weather being 
so warm we were satisfied to remain in the quiet. We had an- 
other meeting here in the evening, which was more largely at- 
tended than in the morning, and by quite a number of men. Both 
meetings appeared to give much satisfaction to those present. 
After the evening meeting we went home with Alary Cock, had an 
interesting and pleasant visit with her and her children, Robert, 
William and Mary. 

28th. We left Flushing this morning and went by railroad to 
Rye, where James S. Haviland, of Purchase, met us and took us to 
his hopitable home. His father, now 85 years old, is very smart 
for a man of that age. We were most cordially welcomed in 
this family. Here we rested until toward evening, the day being 
the warmest of the season, when James took us to his brother 
Charles' for tea, meeting there Charles' wife, Mary, and their 
son, Herbert, and wife Esther. In this home we had a good deal 
of interesting conversation on religious subjects and returned to 
James S. Haviland's for the night. 

29th. This was a very warm day,and we concluded it would be 
best to remain in the quiet as far as possible the most of the day. 
Toward evening we made a pleasant call on Mary Sutton, and then 
went to the home of our dear friends, Robert and Esther Barnes, 
for tea, and to remain for the night. 



Travels in the Ministry 253 

30th. Another very warm morning, and with the prospect of 
a full day's work before us. Attended the First day School at 
Purchase, which was an interesting occasion. The attendance at 
the meeting was very good for so warm a day, and the audience 
appreciative of the message delivered, in which the practical views 
of the Friends relating to the work of salvation were presented. 
We returned to Robert Barnes' to dine and rest preparatory to the 
attendance of a meeting at White Plains, which had been appointed 
for the afternoon. About forty were present at this meeting, and 
as the lesson from the new commandment to love another was 
presented, it found an answering echo, as was evidenced by ex- 
pressions after meeting. Robert and Esther took us to the home 
of their sister, Mary Carpenter, where, with her daughter Emma, 
and son-in-law George Capron, and Henry B. and Anna Hallock 
and daughter Mary Anna Noble, of Brooklyn, who were with us 
at the meeting, we had an enjoyable reunion, for they were all 
old acquaintances and dear friends to whom we have long been 
closely attached. Though the day was very warm, yet we were 
preserved in health, and able to accomplish our work without much 
fatigue. 

Seventh month 1. This was an intensely warm day, so we re- 
mained with our kind friends Robert and Esther Barnes until near 
evening, when we went to my cousins Elizabeth and Parmelia 
Tripp's to tea, and had an enjoyable visit with them and their 
nephew, Harry Tripp, and niece, Caroline Syers, until Martha 
Willets came for us to go to her home for the night. 

2d. Another extremely warm morning and yet we were much 
interested in visiting with this family, consisting of the aged 
mother Anna Willets, her son Samuel and his wife, Martha, and 
her daughter Hannah. We also had with us her sisters-in-law 
Phebe and Elizabeth Haviland, the former of New York, and the 
latter of Brooklyn. 

Our dear friend Anna, who is quite lame, finds employment 
and much enjoyment in raising Job's tears and preparing them to 



254 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

send out to the mothers of little children ; she does this because of 
her strong love for these little ones, that she may be instrumental 
in alleviating the pains of cutting teeth. In our visit we were in- 
structed and received more than we gave ; it is one we shall long 
remember. 

In the afternoon Martha took us to see an aged friend, Hannah 
Field, of the other branch, now past her 97th year. We found 
her unable to walk, sitting in her wheel-chair. She was very 
cheerful and soon recalled in her reminiscences mutual acquaint- 
ances of my childhood and her early life, with the feeling that it 
was good for us to have been together for the little while. 

We then went to the home of James Field, another of the oldest 
members of this meeting. He and his wife, Phebe, and their sister- 
in-law, Mary Barnes, living with their nieces, Hannah and Phebe 
Field. Soon after our arrival we had a heavy thunder-storm,' 
which cooled the air and made the evening enjoyable after endur- 
ing the severe heat of the day. 

3d. James Field took us this morning to call upon Frank and 
Hannah L. Carpenter, who were living in a house part of which 
was built by my great-great-grandfather and the other by a great- 
great-uncle, the first part over two hundred years ago. This made 
the visit with this family (the wife and mother I found also to be 
distant connections of my father) one of unusual interest to us, 
and it seemed to be appreciated by them. We next went to 
Charles and Joanna Pierce Purdy's, with whom and their children 
we had another interesting visit, and then proceeded to the hos- 
pitable home of Ell wood and Luella Burdsall for dinner. The 
afternoon was so stormy, with light but frequent thunder showers, 
that we remained here quietly resting and enjoying the change 
from the extreme heat of the past few days. In the evening 
Walter and Mary Comly, who live near by, came in, and so we 
spent the time in agreeable religious and social conversation. 

4th. During the early morning hours we had much interesting 
and instructive conversation with Ellwood and Luella Burdsall, 
and then went to the hospitable home of Tacy Ward, where we re- 



Travels in the Ministry 255 

mained until toward evening, and then went to Robert Barnes' for 
the night. 

5th. We started this morning for Chappaqua and went to the 
home of an old and dear friend, Joshua Washburn, who, with his 
wife and children gave us a cordial welcome. A heavy thunder 
storm coming up soon after dinner and the rain continuing at 
intervals until night, prevented our going out to see others, so we 
had an interesting visit in this family. 

6th. We went this morning first to call on Hannah J. Pierce, 
the daughter of Moses and Esther Pierce. Hannah has recently 
lost her mother and sister and feels it very keenly. Leaving her a 
word of cheer, we went to see George L. and Marcia Powell — he 
being a brother of Aaron M. Powell — at the School of Practical 
Agriculture and Horticulture. We did not find George at home, 
but had a pleasant visit with Marcia and their daughter Mabel. 
We would much have liked to have had the time to go over the 
farm and note the experiments being made. We next called at the 
home of Bartholomew and Amanda Washburn, but no one but 
Amanda being at home we deferred our visit until a later period. 
We proceeded to Charles Griffith's, just for a little chat at the door, 
and then returned to Joshua Washburn's for dinner. After 
dinner we had such a succession of thunder storms that we deemed 
it prudent to remain with them the remainder of the day. 

ph. Joshua Washburn took us this morning before meeting 
to call on my old schoolmate and friend Charles Robinson and his 
daughter Lucretia Heacock, both of whom lost their companions 
about a year ago. We found them bravely and cheerfully bearing 
their sorrow, with which I was prepared to sympathize from ex- 
perience. The meeting at Chappaqua was well attended this 
morning ; close attention was given to the message delivered, and 
the meeting closed under a precious solemnity. In the afternoon 
Joshua and Caroline went with us to Mt. Kisco, where a meeting 
had been appointed. About forty were present, and as the prac- 
tical duties of a religious life were opened, the message found a 



256 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

response in many minds and called forth much expression of satis- 
faction. We returned to Joshua's for the night, with a feeling of 
peace after our labors of the day, and thankfulness for our preser- 
vation in such good health. 

Seventh month 8. We spent the morning quietly resting. In 
the afternoon Joshua Washburn took us to Chappaqua Mountain 
Institute, to visit Wilbur F. Noxon, the superintendent, whom I 
have known most of his life, and also Albert and Emily Lawton, 
also old acquaintances of both myself and wife. We next called 
on Charles and Phebe Cornell, with whom we had a pleasant visit, 
and then went to Robert and Rebecca Haviland's to tea. We 
found Robert improving, though still feeling the effects of his 
illness. The same sweetness of spirit which characterized his 
more active days was present, and we much enjoyed the visit with 
them and their children. 

pth. Joshua took us this morning to see Henry Dickinson, now 
94 years old, with whom and his daughter, Martha, we had an 
interesting visit. His mental faculties are well maintained; and 
he seemed very glad to see us, as he seldom gets out from home. 
We next went to the home of Henry and Sarah Sutton, and her 
aunt, Eliza Carpenter, now 88 years of age. We found here an 
interesting family of five children. We then called on George 
Conklin and his wife Mary ; she is a member with us. We had 
a word of cheer to leave here, and then called on Eugene and 
Elizabeth Tompkins, she a daughter of Henry Dickinson. Then 
we returned to Joshua's for dinner. Towards evening we went 
to Robert and Phebe Anna Murray's. They are members of the 
other branch of Friends, she a daughter of Harriet Cock, who is 
a cousin of mine. We remained for the night and had an enjoy- 
able visit. 

10th. Weather brighter this morning. We called on Joseph 
and Hannah Smith, aged respectively 86 and 87 years. She was 
an old teacher of mine, in my young life, and in bringing up old 
reminiscences our visit seemed to be enjoyed by them. In the 



Travels in the Ministry 257 

afternoon, we called first on Hannah Underhill for a little visit, 
and then on Esther and Henrietta Cox, the latter going with us 
to see Mary, wife of Charles Dodge. He being busily engaged in 
his hay-field, we did not see him. We called on Maria, Caroline, 
and Emma Carpenter, daughters of Robert Carpenter, lately 
deceased. In all of these visits we endeavored to leave an en- 
couraging word, and it was a pleasure thus to see so many dear 
friends. 

nth. We went with Joshua and Caroline Washburn to Mt. 
Kisco this morning, to attend first the meeting of ministers and 
elders, and then Chappaqua Monthly Meeting. The meeting, 
though not large, was an interesting, and I trust, a profitable occa- 
sion. At the close a bountiful lunch was provided, after partaking 
of which and spending a little time in social mingling with the 
friends at the meeting-house, we returned with Joshua to Chappa- 
qua. 

12th. Left Joshua's this morning for Yorktown Heights, where 
we were met by Theodore Purdy and taken to his home, and were 
warmly welcomed by him and his wife, Sarah. After resting a 
while we started to attend the Amawalk Executive Meeting. This 
meeting was nearly as large as that of Chappaqua, and was felt to 
be an instructive occasion. We returned to Theodore's to dinner, 
where we had the company of our friends Amy Anna Irish and 
Josephine T. Hallock. This afternoon we made several visits, first 
going to see our aged friend Jane Hallock, now 90 years of age. 
who has been confined to her bed for several years. I found she 
knew me and remembered my father and mother very well. She 
appeared very happy in spirit and contented with her lot. We 
next called on Ira G. and Louisa Loder, she having been received 
into membership a few years since. After a pleasant visit with 
these friends we went to the home of Emily Underhill, who with 
her brother, Henry Carpenter, of New York, and her daughter, 
Susan Wright, and granddaughter, Laura Remey, gave us a cor- 
dial welcome. 

13th. Spent most of the day resting at Theodore Purdy's. 

17 



258 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Towards evening Sarah H. Purdy went with us to the old home 
of Joseph Hallock, now occupied by his grandson, David Irish, and 
his wife, Viola, meeting here our friends, Amy Anna Irish, and 
Josephine T. Hallock, and then went to call on William Carpenter 
and his niece, Louisa Lewellyn, who, though not members are 
friendly inclined and after a pleasant intercourse we returned to 
Purdys' for the night. 

Seventh month 14. After a light shower this morning the 
weather became clear for the first time in several days, and as the 
hour of meeting drew near we wended our way to the meeting- 
house at Amawalk, where a large meeting for the place assembled. 
As the message given in relation to the fundamental principles of 
Friends and their adaptation to the needs of the human family was 
delivered very close attention was given, and the meeting closed 
under a preciously solemn feeling, followed by expression of much 
satisfaction from the young for the favor. After meeting we went 
home with George Griffin, the son of my old and dear friends 
Daniel and Amy Griffin. There we were most kindly welcomed 
by his wife, Minnie, and daughter Alice, members of the other 
branch of Friends, or the Friends' Church, as they call it. His 
sister, Emma Jane Hallock, also, spent the afternoon with them 
on the old homestead, very pleasantly, as it called up many reminis- 
cences of our interminglings in the past. 

As the evening hour approached we went with them to their 

* 

eA^ening meeting at Yorktown, the Friends there having kindly 
consented for me to occupy the time usually given to the sermon. 
In this meeting the message given was to portray the ideal life 
of the Christian, a large number having gathered of all classes. It 
was well received and there were many expressions from their 
members that they were glad I had been with them. It was grati- 
fying to me to receive such cordial treatment from them as it 
insures the growth of a better feeling between the two branches. 
After meeting we went to the home of Jordan Frost, now 88 years 
of age, for the night. 



Travels in the Ministry 259 

15th. Jordan and his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Cocks, went with 
us this morning to call on the family of Henry J., son of Henry 
Griffin, We found his wife, and son James and wife at home, and 
after some pleasant social and religious conversation we started 
to visit and dine with Anna Marshall, a sister of Henry J. Griffin. 
This was a remarkably picturesque ride along the south side of 
Turkey Mountain, then down into the Croton Valley, crossing into 
it near the celebrated Croton dam, and then up alongside of the 
Croton Lake. 

We found a warm greeting in Anna Marshall's home, and were 
also glad to meet our friend Leah Miller from Brooklyn. This 
home had been saddened by the sudden death of her husband just 
one year previous, he having been prostrated in the hay field. We 
had a word of comfort to leave her, and towards evening returned 
to Jordan Frost's for the night. 

16th. This morning Jordan took us to Theodore Purdy's, who 
was to take us to Richard Weeks'. As we passed the home of 
David Irish, whom we had previously visited, we were met with 
the sad intelligence that their little baby, about three weeks old, had 
just deceased. We found a cordial welcome in the home of 
Richard Weeks, and his sister, Esther Jane, his son-in-law, Irving 
Loder, and niece Pauline Maurice, and remained the rest of the 
day and night. 

iyth. This morning Richard Weeks took us to Purdy's Station, 
to the home of Charles Lindley and Emma Hunt, where we met 
a cordial reception, and after dinner Charles took me over to 
Peach Pond, to call on Clayton Nichols and family, and on Eliza- 
beth, widow of Edward Ryder. This is one of the places where 
one or two meetings are held in the year, and as there are but 
few Friends here it is impracticable to attempt to hold a meeting 
except it be on a First day; so we, not being able to reach it this 
time, have deferred holding a meeting here until later. We held a 
meeting in the Methodist house at Purdy's Station, which, in con- 
sequence of it being rainy, or threatening to rain, was not as 



260 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

large as had been expected, but proved to be a very satisfactory 
occasion. 

1 8th. Rested this forenoon, and in the afternoon Charles L 
Hunt and wife took us some twelve miles to Burling Halloek's, 
who, with his wife Emma, and daughters Gertrude, Grace, and 
Irene, and their boarders, extended a cordial greeting. They had 
arranged for a parlor meeting in the evening; several were 
present who had never been at a Friends' meeting, and as the 
message delivered was upon the practical religion taught by the 
blessed Jesus, it was listened to with deep attention, and called 
forth much expression of satisfaction. 

ipth. Burling took us this morning to Peekskill, en route to 
Moore's Mills, in Duchess county, N. Y., where we were met by 
our dear friend Alfred H. Moore and taken to his hospitable home, 
now saddened by the prolonged illness of his wife. After dining 
with him and resting we went to his sister Susan Moore's, having 
an enjoyable visit, and in the evening Alfred came for us and 
took us to James and Mary Barmore's for the night. 

20th. This has been a very enjoyable day, though a busy one, 
the ride through the very picturesque scenery on our way to see 
two families of Friends involving a ride of seventeen miles in the 
fresh, invigorating air from the mountains seen in the distance. 
The kind, cordial welcome received, the pleasant social and re- 
ligious intercourse, made it a day we shall long remember. James 
and Mary Barmore went with us to Aikin Skidmore's, who, with 
his wife Ruth and son Alfred and his wife, comprise the family ; 
they gave us a warm welcome, though we were unannounced. 
After dinner we drove to Henry Alley's, where we found his wife 
and daughters expecting us.* Henry returned before we left, and 
after some conversation upon both social and religious topics we 
returned to James Barmore's to tea, and then went to Susan 
Moore's, where a meeting had been appointed for the evening. 
The company assembled was a very mixed one as regards de- 
nominational relations, most of them summer boarders from in 
and near New York. The meeting seemed to be a satisfactory 



Travels in the Ministry 261 

one to those assembled, as the message given called them to some 
of the practical and spiritual teachings of the blessed Jesns. After 
meeting we went home with Edward Barmore, who, with his 
wife Lucy and daughter Mary, gave us a warm welcome, and there 
remained for the night. 

Seventh month 21. Attended the meeting at Moore's Mills this 
morning. One side of the house was well rilled, there being a 
number of boarders from the city in the neighborhood, and several 
of the other branch of Friends were in atendance. They all 
listened attentively while the nature, object, and effect of religion, 
and its great value, was being presented, and a solemn covering 
overspread us, under which we closed. We went home again with 
Edward and Lucy Barmore, and daughter, Mary, and we also had 
the company of William and Henrietta Bedell. 

After dinner Edward and Mary took us over to Nine Partners, 
where a meeting had been appointed for the afternoon. About 
forty persons were present at this meeting and it proved to be a 
season of much satisfaction. After meeting we went home with 
Franklin C. and Caroline Haight, where we also found our friends 
Henry and Amy Miller and their daughter Margaret, from Ossin- 
ing, N. Y. The retrospect of the day was peaceful. 

2 2d. This morning Henry and Amy Miller went with us to 
see Melissa Sutton, at the old homestead of Aaron Sutton, with 
whom and her niece and husband, Martha and Frederick Clements, 
we had an enjoyable visit, returning to Franklin Haight's by way 
of one of the elegantly fitted-up residences which adorn this neigh- 
borhood, and calling on Mary Birdsall, who lives near Franklin's. 
After dinner we drove to Millbrook to visit Sarah Sweet, and 
Henry and Mary Carpenter, then to call on Susan Merritt, and 
lastly on Mary Haviland and her sister Catharine and their niece. 
In each of these calls we had considerable of both social and 
religious converse. We then drove through the beautiful and 
highly cultivated grounds of a gentleman named Dietrich, which 
exceeded in its beauty of arangements, the mass of flowers in 



262 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

bloom, the magnificent Dutch garden with fruit trees trained to the 
wall, anything we had ever seen. After taking in their daughter 
Anna McCord, from New York, we returned to Franklin's for the 
night, just escaping a heavy thunder storm, as we had done the 
night before, in the early evening. 

23d. Franklin and Caroline went with us this morning to 
William and Henrietta Bedell's, at Clinton Corners, where we 
spent the rest of the day in social mingling, they being friends 
with whom we have long been closely bound. In the evening we 
went with them to the meeting-house of the other branch of 
Friends, to an entertainment for the benefit of the W. C. T. U., 
which we enjoyed. 

24th. William and Henrietta Bedell took us this morning to 
the home of George S. and Anna Hicks, with whom lives their 
aged father, Hewlitt Hicks, now about 86 years old. We soon 
found we had many mutual acquaintances, among both the living 
and those who have passed away, and in recalling our memories 
of these, as well as in noting their example, opportunity was 
offered for some suggestions. In the afternoon we went to see 
Walter D. and Ann Eliza Hicks, and their daughter, Clara, and 
here too our visit was much enjoyed. We returned to Bedell's 
for the night. 

25th. This morning a telegram came notifying me of the 
funeral of Eliza Macy, widow of William H. Macy, of New 
York, and having no appointments to prevent, I felt it would be 
right to go. Owing to the train being behind time I was a little 
late in arriving at the house, but was there in time to take some 
part in the services, which seemed to be appreciated. Some years 
ago we homed with them during the Yearly Meeting in New 
York, and became much attached to them. The funeral occasion 
was impressive, as her life and example could be presented as an 
incentive to follow. I returned to Clinton Corners in the evening. 

26th. William and Henrietta Bedell went with us this morning 
to an appointed meeting at Crum Elbow. No regular meeting is 
now held at this place, but about sixty gathered, and gave close 



Travels in the Ministry 263 

attention to the message delivered, in which the work of regenera- 
tion was pictured. After meeting we went home with Ethan 
Browning, now in his 86th year, and with faculties well preserved. 
Our acquaintance is of long standing, and as most of his children 
were also home for this occasion, we much enjoyed the reunion. 
In the afternoon I first called on Egbert Doty, an old friend of my 
boyhood days, whose mother was a member. I found him much 
broken in health, but he readily recognized me and seemed pleased 
to see me once more. We then went to the home of his brother 
Joseph and Augusta Doty, where we met Thomas and Mary 
Stringham and passed the afternoon amid old associations and in 
pleasant converse. These visits among the associates of my child- 
hood, with their warm and cordial welcome, touch a tender chord 
in my heart, and call out a deep feeling of thankfulness for the 
care and direction of my Heavenly Father in leading me into the 
field of service for him in this line of the ministry. 

2ph. Our friends William and Henrietta Bedell took us this 
morning to Pleasant Valley, to visit a cousin of mine, Naomi J. 
Eighmie, whose father was a member. We dined here, as she 
lives with her daughter and husband, who, while not members, 
are yet in close sympathy with friendly views. In the afternoon 
we had a meeting, by appointment, in the old meeting-house in 
the village of Pleasant Valley. No regular meeting has been 
held here for several years, and but few appointed ones. Though 
in some respects an unfavorable afternoon, between forty and 
fifty assembled, and as I was led to unfold the duties of a Christian 
life a sweet solemnity gathered over us, and at the close of the 
meeting expression was made of satisfaction at being once more 
able to attend a Friends' meeting. After meeting we went to the 
home of Mary Ann Tompkins, and her son G. Jay Tompkins, for 
tea, having some pleasant conversation on secular and religious 
topics, and then returned with our friends for the night, feeling 
that the day had been well occupied. 

Seventh month 28. Attended the meeting at Clinton Corners 
this morning. Our friends of the other branch discontinued their 



264 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

meeting for the day, and all came to our meeting, making a large 
one for a country place. As the meeting settled a sweet feeling of 
unity seemed to overspread us, which continued unbroken to the 
close. The testimony given was in explanation of the doctrine of 
the inner light and its influences, when obeyed, upon the every- 
day life. The warmth of the greeting which was given at the 
close of the meeting by all classes evidenced that the message had 
touched a corresponding feeeling in the hearts of the listeners. 
After meeting we returned to William and Henrietta Bedell's, 
where several of my acquaintances of long standing came, and in 
our intermingling the old love for one another was deepened. 

Toward evening we took the cars en route for Poughkeepsie, 
the place of my birth, where we had appointed a meeting for the 
evening. We were met at the train by our kind friend, Jacob Cor- 
lies, and escorted to his hospitable home, where we were most cor- 
dially welcomed by his wife, Edith W., and children, Walter and 
Arthur and Elizabeth Lockwood. As the time of meeting came 
we wended our way to their beautiful meeting-house, and soon be- 
tween forty and fifty gathered, a much larger number than we had 
expected, for this is one of the small meetings. As the testimony 
relating to the views of Friends regarding salvation was given it 
appeared to meet a cordial response. A minister of the other 
branch who was present, and who gave us a short but pertinent 
testimony, said to me at the close, " I have enjoyed this meeting, 
and have been deeply interested by thy remarks." We returned 
to the Corlies' for the night, feeling that for us the day had been 
unusually full of blessings. 

29th. We started out, with Edith Corlies as a guide, to make 
some calls upon some of my old acquaintances and relations, going- 
first to the home of three sisters, Gelina, Lucretia, and Evelyn, 
daughters of Benjamin Chase, who formerly lived near us while 
our home was in Mendon, many years ago. The eldest, Gelina, 
now a widow, is entirely helpless, from a stiffening of the limbs 
and joints. Lucretia, also a widow, and Evelyn, unmarried, were 
all teachers in their early life. I had lost sight of them for over 



Travels in the Ministry 265 

thirty years and our reunion was most enjoyable. The afflicted 
sister, whose mind is clear, seemed particularly to enjoy it. We 
next called on Anna Cooley and her daughter, Jennie, wife and 
daughter of Charles Cooley, a first cousin of my wife Judith. The 
women are members of the other branch, but he of ours. We 
much enjoyed this call. We then went to see Mary Flagler (nee 
Doty), another of the schoolmates of my early life. We found 
her in feeble health, but she greeted us with a warm welcome. 
We then returned with Edith to dine. After dinner we visited 
Mary Cooley, another cousin, remaining until train time, when we 
returned to Clinton Corners. We took the train in the midst of a 
terrific thunder storm, but arrived at our destination safely. After 
resting a while we repaired to the Friends' Church, where I was 
to deliver an address on temperance. The unfavorable weather 
prevented a large attendance, but we had a satisfactory meeting. 

30th. We occupied the day in visiting, first at Edward and 
Charlotte Young's ; he having been paralyzed a few months ago, 
is unable to talk much. We then went to Thomas and Mary 
Stringham's to dinner, and after dinner spent a little time in her 
room with their aged mother now past ninety. From there went 
to Jonathan Sheldon's, whose wife, Mary H., is an invalid, with 
whom and their son-in-law and daughter, James and Elma Brown- 
ing, we remained to tea. We felt at the close of the day, as we 
returned to Bedell's, that it had been profitably spent, and that a 
little sunshine had been carried to these shut-ins, as well as to those 
having the care of the homes. 

31st. We left Clinton Corners this morning in company with 
William and Henrietta Bedell for Ghent, and were met at Chatham 
by William H. Angell and taken to his home, where we found a 
cordial reception from his sister Amelia and brother Augustus. 
After dining we wended our way to the meeting-house near by, 
where a meeting had been appointed for the afternoon, no regular 
meeting being held here. Soon about twenty gathered, to whom 
the spoken word appeared to give much satisfaction. After meet- 
ing we went home with William W. Angell, and were entertained 



266 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

by him and' his daughters, Minnie and Elizabeth, for the night. 
This visit was a very agreeable one to us. 

Eighth month 1st. We left Ghent this morning, William and 
Henrietta with us, for Rayville, and were met by George Reynolds 
and taken to his hospitable home to be most cordially greeted by 
his wife, Mary. A meeting had been appointed here for the morn- 
ing", there being no regular meeting held and but few Friends. 
But although a busy season with the farmers, about forty assem- 
bled, and as the message from the practical teachings of Jesus 
regarding our duties in this life was presented, it met the witness 
in many hearts, as was evidenced in the expressions of thankful- 
ness of the opportunity they had had. We returned to George 
and Mary Reynolds's to dine, and in the evening paid a visit to 
John and Charlotte Finch, near by, thus closing the day with the 
feeling that we had been in our proper place. 

2d. We made a visit this morning at Lydia Green's, a sister of 
Mary Reynolds, who, with her daughter, Amelia Sheppard, and 
granddaughter, gave us a cordial welcome. In the afternoon I 
called on Lucy Ray and her daughter, and then George Reynolds 
took us, with William and Henrietta Bedell, to Jonathan Powell's. 
They returned in the evening, but we remained over night and 
had an excellent visit with him and his daughter Anna. 

3d. Jonathan took us to Chatham Centre this morning to take 
the train for Albany, where we went to the home of Mary and 
Mary E. Davis for a while After dinner we took a stroll through 
the beautiful building in which the legislature of the State of New 
York transacts its business, then took train for Granville, N. Y., 
where we were kindly met by Henry Dillingham and were soon in 
his hospitable home, with a cordial greeting from him and his wife 
Lillys. 

Eighth month 4. We had two meetings at Granville to-day, 
both in the Friends' meeting-house, which were well attended. In 
the morning meeting the testimony which seemed to be required 
was to show that the basal principle of the Friends includes all 



Travels in the Ministry 267 

that is true in religion, and is being more fully acknowledged now 
than ever before, and that it will meet the needs of the human 
family in the present time, and promote the growth of all true 
spiritual life and knowledge, and preserve from every form of 
evil. It met, I believe, a cordial response in many hearts not in 
membership with us, as was evidenced from the expressions which 
reached me. In the afternoon meeting the message given was to 
show another picture of the practical teachings of Jesus, as pre- 
sented in the Sermon on the Mount. Both meetings closed under 
a sweet and solemn covering. We dined with Rhoda Barker, in 
company with Hannah Warren, and spent the evening and night 
at Henry Dillingham's. 

$th. Henry and Lillys Dillingham took us this morning to one 
of the slate quarries of which there are a number near here, and 
then, after an enjoyable ride, mostly in the State of Vermont, to 
Lydia Dillingham's to dinner, where a number of friends had been 
invited to meet us, and with whom we had a pleasant social time. 
After dinner we went with them and their daughter Lydia J. 
Mosher to the cottage of the latter on the banks of Lake St. 
Catharine, a pretty sheet of water nestling close to the foot of the 
mountains. We returned to tea with Stacy and Jennie Potter. 
At this home several had been invited in to meet us, and it seemed 
to be a source of satisfaction to all that we could thus gather 
together. 

6th. Henry and Lillys went with us this morning to visit their 
daughter Lemoyne and her husband, G. Myron Allen, stopping on 
our way at the slate works, where the stone is sawed, planed, var- 
nished and polished for different purposes, which was very inter- 
esting to us. After a good visit in this family we returned to 
Granville in time to take the train for Johnsonville, where we 
were kindly met by Joseph Lawton and taken to his home in 
Pittstown, being there cordially welcomed by him and his wife 
Abigail. The weather had been pleasant until about the time we 
left Granville, when a light rain set in, which continued until we 
reached our destination and through most of the night. 



268 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

yth. Awoke this morning to find it raining heavily, but before 
meeting time it cleared. About forty-five attended the meeting, 
and as another testimony, based upon the teachings and life of 
Jesus, was given, it seemed to touch many hearts. We returned 
to Joseph Lawton's to dinner and remained until evening, when 
he took us to Pittstown Village, where a meeting had been ap- 
pointed in the Methodist house. This meeting was largely at- 
tended, and by many young people, to whom I was led to open 
the duties of life which are demanded of us in the fulfillment of 
the commandment to love one another. A deep solemnity gathered 
over the meeting as I proceeded and remained with us until the 
close. After meeting we went home with Jonathan Norton, who 
with his wife Charlotte gave us a cordial reception. 

8th. A bright morning greeted us on arising, and soon after 
breakfast Jonathan took us to the home of his brother, Isaac Nor-, 
ton, and we had a pleasant call on him, his wife, Harriet, and his 
stepmother, who is now in feeble health. He then took us to John- 
sonville, where we were met by Butler M. Hoag, taken to his 
home, and warmly welcomed by his wife Elizabeth, his father, 
Isaac and sister Phebe. 

A meeting had been appointed in the South Easton meeting- 
house in the afternoon, at which between forty and fifty gathered, 
and as the message given, calling their attention to the testimony 
of Jesus in answer to the inquiry, " What shall I do to inherit 
eternal life ? " seemed to touch a responsive chord, we closed 
under a comfortable covering. Butler then took us to call on his 
aunt Lydia SkifT, and after a pleasant social visit we returned with 
him to his home for the night. 

pth. Isaac Norton and daughter Phebe took us this morning 
first to call on Mary Davis and her nieces, Chloe Sisson and Emily 
Peckham, and then to visit George and Lucy Allen, and his mother 
Mary Phillips, both of which calls were very enjoyable, and in 
which a word of cheer was left. We then went to John Pratt's, 
where we dined with him and his son Frank and wife Ethel. We 
had a meeting at North Easton this afternoon at which there were 



Travels in the Ministry 269 

between fifty and sixty present. We went home with Job and 
Emeline Wilbur, where we found another cordial greeting. 
After tea we went to visit Alonzo and Sarah Briggs, and then 
returned to Job Wilbur's for the night with the feeling that the 
day had been profitably spent. 

10th. We spent this morning in calling on Clara Ensign, who 
though not a member is quite a steady attendant of the meeting 
here with her husband and their four children. We then called on 
Charles and Mary Wilbur and their family — he is a son of Job H. 
and Emeline Wilbur — returning to Job's for dinner. In the after- 
noon, Eliza, feeling the need of rest, remained at Job's while he 
and I started out to make several visits, first at Smith and Phebe 
Thomas', then on George Wilbur and his daughter Lydia, then 
upon Wilbur and Patience Fryer, and lastly on Jane Wilbur and 
her daughter Phebe. At all of these places our visit seemed to 
be much appreciated and we trust we left at each place some share 
of encouragement. 

Eighth month II. Job H Wilbur took us in his carriage this 
morning en route for Saratoga where a meeting had been ap- 
pointed in the old meeting-house. It was a beautiful morning 
and the ride down into the valley of the Hudson river, which we 
crossed on a flat boat used as the ferry, was delightful, as the 
scenery from both sides of the river is simply grand. Contrary to 
our expectations quite a large meeting gathered, nearly filling the 
floor of the house. Close attention was given to the testimony 
delivered and many expressions of satisfaction were received. 
After meeting we went home with Melvin Thomas for a lunch, 
soon after which Job took us to Wilbur's Basin to take the trolley 
cars for Albany. We were met here by our friends, Benjamin 
Carhart, from Albany, and Henry Colvin. from Troy, who were 
an efficient and agreeable escort. This trolley ride along the bank 
of the Hudson was very enjoyable. Our friends Mary and Mary 
E. Davis gave us a cordial welcome in their hospitable home. A 
meeting had been appointed here for the evening, which was well 



270 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

attended by a thoughtful audience, to whom I was led to explain 
our basal principle and its application to human needs. The 
testimony appeared to meet the witness in many hearts and warm 
responses greeted us as the meeting closed. We returned to the 
Davis' for the night with the feeling that while the day had been 
closely occupied the retrospect brought a sense of sweet peace. 

12th. We concluded to turn aside from our regular work for 
a few days, to make some visits in a social way upon some 
aged relatives ; so this afternoon we took the train from Albany 
to Lockport, where my step-mother, Phebe W. Cornell, now 
lives, who is in her 98th year, arriving there in the early evening. 

13th. We visited with mother and the niece with whom she 
lives during the morning. We found her feeble in body and very 
forgetful in mind, but very glad to see us. In the afternoon we 
went to Buffalo to take a cursory glance at, the Pan-American Ex- 
position, staying until the evening to see the illumination by the 
electric lights. This was beyond my powers of description for its 
magnitude and beauty. It seemed as though we were in wonder- 
land for a certainty. We subsequently learned there were three 
hundred thousand incandescent lights arranged in a most beautiful 
and artistic order. This alone amply repaid us for our visit. We 
returned to Lockport in good time for our night's rest, which we 
really needed. 

14th. Spent the morning with mother and in the afternoon 
came to Mendon, our dear friend, Jonathan D. Noxon, meeting us 
at Rochester Junction, and taking us to his hospitable home, where 
the cordial welcome extended by him and his wife Phebe Jane, was 
gratifying to us. We are to sojourn with them for a few days, 
while we call on some relatives and friends in the neighborhood. 

ijth. Spent the day in visiting my brother-in-law, James Rus- 
sell, now in his 83d year, whom we found in feeble health. In 
Twelfth month last the companion with whom he had lived har- 
moniously for nearly sixty-one years, was removed by death. This 
loss and the severe heat of the present summer, has seriously 



Travels in the Ministry 271 

affected him ; our work here was to endeavor to cheer and up- 
lift him. 

16th. Went to my cousin Albert A. Lord's for dinner to-day, 
and in the afternoon called on Charlotte W. Cox and her son 
William W. Cox. In this home sorrow has entered and removed 
the wife of less than a year, which enlisted our sympathy. We 
then returned to Jonathan D. Noxon's for the night. 

iyth. We have passed this day in resting and visiting with 
several friends whom Jonathan and Phebe Jane Noxon had in- 
vited to meet us in their hospitable home. 

Eighth month 18. After a morning visit with our friends Jona- 
than D. and Phebe Jane Noxon, in which we had a free inter- 
change of views on spiritual matters, we wended our way to the 
meeting-house in Mendon, where I had worshipped for so many 
years, and in which so many lessons of deep instruction had been 
received, both orally and mentally. Many precious memories 
were recalled as the meeting gathered, composed this time of the 
neighbors belonging to different denominations and some making 
no special profession. They gave close attention to the message 
given, which related to the practical nature of true religion and its 
priceless value in aiding us to meet the vicissitudes of this life as 
well as to properly fit us for the joys of the life to come. A deep 
solemnity overspread the meeting, under which it closed, and the 
warm social greetings which followed were very grateful to my 
feelings, coming from those among whom we had lived for so 
many years. 

After meeting we returned with our friends to dine, and in the 
afternoon visited my only living uncle and his family. He is now 
in his 91st year, and though enfeebled in body retains his facul- 
ties remarkably well. We passed the afternoon in a pleasant 
conversation, which I trust was also a profitable one. 

ipth. This morning we spent quietly resting in the home of 
our friends, and in the afternoon they took us to Iloneoye Falls to 
call on some of our friends and acquaintances residing' there, going 



272 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

first to see Anna Hull and her daughter, Medora Russell. Then 
we called on William and Mary Zavitz, and found there his 
brother Webster Zavitz and his wife Sarah, from Coldstream, 
Ontario. Then we made a short call on Helen Holdridge, when 
the clouds began to gather so thickly we had to defer making two 
other calls, and drove directly to the home of Martin Davis and 
his sister Olive, who are very dear friends of ours. We stayed 
to tea and into the evening, returning to Jonathan Noxon's for the 
night. 

20th. We left Mendon this morning for Syracuse to visit a 
niece and great niece of my first wife Judith, and remained over 
night with them. 

21st. We left Syracuse this morning and came to Albany to the 
home of Mary Davis, where, as ever, the warm welcome awaited 
us, and remained with them for the night. 

22d. We left Albany this morning by steamboat for New Balti- 
more to visit Sarah, widow of Jacob B. Gurney. We were met at 
the landing by her granddaughter and escorted to their home, and 
Avith them passed the day until toward evening, very pleasantly 
and enjoyably. Toward evening we took the boat for Hud- 
son, and were soon in the home of our near friend Sarah A. Macy, 
who with her niece, Sarah Browning, and her husband, Noah, 
gave us a very cordial welcome, and with whom we remained for 
the night. 

23d. A warm, sultry day with two thunder showers, but we 
were quietly resting and being entertained in the home of our 
friend Sarah A. Macy and family, and enjoyed the reunion very 
much ; it was only marred by the illness of Sarah, from the effects 
of a heavy cold, which obliged her to retire in the latter part of 
the afternoon. Toward night Louisa Clongh, a grand-daughter of 
George Macy, came to see us, and after tea escorted us to the home 
of Harriet Payne, where in company with her and two of her 
children we had a satisfactory visit. 

24th. Sarah some better this morning ; the weather still warm 
and sultry, and we are expecting to leave in the afternoon for John 



Travels in the Ministry 273 

U. Rushmore's, at Oak Hill, Greene county, and to be at Potter's 
Hollow at meeting to-morrow. 

Eighth month 24. We left Hudson this afternoon in a small 
steamer for Catskill, then went by Catskill Railroad to Cairo, and 
from Cairo twelve miles by stage to Oak Hill, the home of John U. 
Rushmore and his wife Sarah, and where we met their daughter, 
Jane P. Rushmore. The afternoon was very rainy and this pre- 
cluded any outlook over this picturesque country. We found a 
cordial reception in the home of these dear friends. 

25th. This morning opened fair, with a pleasant temperature, 
and about 9 o'clock we started to attend a meeting at Potter's Hol- 
low, near the home where Israel Drake formerly lived.* The out- 
look from our road looking southward across the valley at the 
northern foot of the Catskill mountains was grand, and much 
enjoyed by us. On reaching the meeting-house, now used as a 
union house, a large number gathered, nearly rilling it, and as the 
ideal of a practical Christian life was presented and described 
it seemed to meet the witness in many hearts. After meeting we 
went home with John D. and Phebe Frost, who with their son, 
Sheldon J. Frost, and their married daughter, who lives in the 
home with them, gave us a cordial welcome. After dinner and a 
pleasant social visit we called on John's sisters, Nancy Frost 
and Matilda Haight, and then returned to Oak Hill. In the even- 
ing we had an appointed meeting in the Methodist house in Oak 
Hill, which John Rushmore said was the first Friends' meeting 
held in the place since Stephen Treadwell held one about sixty-five 
years ago. This meeting was largely attended by all classes in the 
village, and proved to be a satisfactory season, if I may judge 
from greetings given at its close. This closed this day's labors 
and we retired with the consciousness of having endeavored to 
faithfully perform the service required. 

26th. We left Oak Hill this morning under the charge of Jane 
P. Rushmore, and wended our way to Cairo, the railroad station, 
enjoying the beautiful scenery, as well as the social intercourse, 

18 



274 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

and drinking in the pure mountain air. We left Cairo by railroad 
to Catskill, and there took the Day Line of steamers to Albany. 
This sail up the Hudson was very enjoyable ; we arrived in Albany 
about 6.30. and were soon again in the hospitable home of Mary 
Davis, quite wearied, but otherwise in good health. 

27th. After resting this morning- we went out to the home of 
Eliza, Mary, and Maria Cary, daughters of the late Joseph Gary, 
and after dining with them Josephine Adams came for us and took 
us to the home of herself, her sister, Elizabeth, and their brother 
James, where we remained the rest of the afternoon. James is a 
sufferer from creeping paralysis, which prevents him from attend- 
ing to any business. The cheerful devotion of these sisters was 
touching to witness ; our visit with them could only incidentally 
encourage and strengthen them. Maria Cary was with us here, 
and in the early evening we returned to the hospitable home of the 
Cary sisters, where our visit was very enjoyable, calling up the 
memories of the past association with their father and mother and 
others of their relatives who were among the dear friends of my 
early days. 

28th. This morning we went to Cary Rushmore's, a brother of 
John U., not far away, and stayed with his family, composed of 
his daughter, Florence, and her husband Hanafred Wanzer, and 
their two children William and Henrietta, and his sister-in-law 
Mary Carpenter. This association too called up many memories, 
and the time passed pleasantly until we had to leave to make 
some visits in Albany. We went first to the home of Marvin Tan- 
ner and wife, who have recently been received into the Society. 
They appeared glad to see us and we had a word of cheer to leave 
with them ; then went to Mary Davis' to tea. After tea Mary E. 
Davis went with us to call on Samuel Brudt, who had also been 
recently received into membership. We also called on Julia Hoag, 
a relative by marriage of my step-mother, and one whom I had 
known for many )^ears. 

29th. We left Albany this morning and went to Saratoga 
Springs to visit, first, Eliza Ann Morey, a niece of Sarah Hunt and 



Travels in the Ministry 275 

a cousin to Mary Davis, and found in her hospitable home a cordial 
welcome. After dinner Ida Smith, a daughter of William and 
Caroline Smith (the latter another niece of Sarah Hunt), came 
for us and took us in a carriage to see some of the springs and 
other interesting places in and around Saratoga, returning with 
us to her home, where we had an interesting visit with her father 
and sister Harriet. Their mother, who deceased a few years since, 
was one of my associates in our young life and an intimate friend 
of my sister Sarah Ann and my wife Judith. It gave us much 
pleasure to thus visit with her children. E. A. Morey came to tea 
with us. We returned to Albany in the evening, after some deten- 
tion, our train being late, and were again welcomed in the home 
of Mary Davis. 

30th. We left Albany this morning for Quaker Street, to at- 
tend Duanesburg Quarterly Meeting, and were met at Delaware, 
the railroad station near by, by Mary Jane Hoag, and taken to her 
hospitable home, where this has been penned, and where we are 
this afternoon quietly resting as a preparation for further service. 

31st. Yesterday afternoon was so rainy that it prevented us 
from making any visits and, this morning it continued 
threatening, so we remained quietly at Mary Jane Hoag's 
until the time for the meeting of ministers and elders in the 
afternoon. At this meeting I left a word of encouragement, 
in which they were counseled not to dwell too much upon the 
darker side either of their secular or religious life, but to more 
devotedly trust the guidance of the Father, do each day's work 
well, and leave the rest to his care. After meeting we called, in 
company with M. J. Hoag, on Edgar and Mary Tolles,and then on 
Mercy Quinby and her sister Emily Tripp, both of which visits 
were very satisfactory to us and appeared so to them. 

We then returned with M. J. Hoag for the night and had the 
company of William and Henrietta Bedell, and his sister, Mary 
Smith, during the evening. 

Ninth month 1. The weather was still threatening, with light 
rain, this morning, but at the hour of meeting the house was nearly 



276 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

filled. The Christian congregation there, withholding their usual 
morning meeting, came to meet with the Friends. After meeting 
we went home with William Chadwick, who with his daughter, 
Elizabeth, and her husband, Charles Washburn, gave us, with 
other Friends, a cordial welcome. In the evening, by arrange- 
ment, as is the usual custom here at quarterly meeting time, we at- 
tended the meeting in the Christian Church, they giving up the 
time usually given to the discourse to me, and I felt free to open 
to them my views of what the perfect life consisted in. We re- 
turned to M. J. Hoag's for the night. 

2d. The weather still continued threatening with light rain, 
until the Quarterly Meeting assembled. A number of neighbors 
came in, but it being a holiday, the attendance of others than 
Friends was small. Another testimony upon the relation of God 
to man, man's duties to God and to his fellow men, seemed called 
for. At the close of the business meeting, as we came to the part- 
ing moments, many expressed satisfaction with our visit. After 
partaking of dinner we took the cars for Albany, and were soon 
welcomed in the home of Mary and Mary E. Davis. 

3d. We left Albany this morning on one of the palatial boats 
which run between that city and New York, and had an enjoyable 
ride down the Hudson to Newburg. The weather was fine, the 
landscape beautiful, in its unusually (for this time of year) bright 
robe of green, and in the quiet movement of the boat we not only 
found time to gaze upon the beautiful outlook but to go over in 
retrospect much of our summer's work. We took cars at New- 
burg for Cornwall, were met at the station by Rowland Cocks, 
and were soon greeted by his wife, Mary, and their children, and 
made welcome for the night. 

4th. About 9 a. m., Rowland took us to FirthclifTe to take the 
train for Fallsburgh, where we were met by Samuel N. Smith, and 
after a twelve miles' ride reached his very hospitable home. We 
much enjoyed the day's travels through this mountainous district, 
with its ever varying and very picturesque scenery, and the genial 
companionship of our host. When we reached his home in the 



Travels in the Ministry ' zjy 

beautiful and quiet valley, a warm welcome from his wife, Saflly, 
and their son James' family, greeted us and made us feel at 
home among them. We passed the evening in a genial and enjoy- 
able conversation, and retired with a feeling of thankfulness for 
our preservation thus far on our mission and for the welcome that 
has greeted us. 

$th. A beautiful morning, and as the time appointed for a 
meeting at Grahamsville drew near we wended our way to the old 
meeting-house, which we found on entering to be clean and bright. 
Quite a large meeting gathered, who listened to the spoken words 
with close attention. We returned with Samuel N. Smith and 
wife to dine, and after a short rest started with them for Ellen- 
ville, distant fourteen miles. A meeting had been arranged for in 
the home of Eugene and Mary Ellen Clark for the evening. These 
friends, with their mother, Mary Weeks, gave us a hearty welcome. 
This meeting, like that of the morning, was composed of those 
not members with us, with a few Friends. As the gospel message 
led me to present the mission and teachings of Jesus, founded on 
the love of God for man and man's duty to love God, and to love 
his fellow, it seemed to meet the witness in the hearts of those 
present and awaken feelings of thankfulness for the opportunity. 

6th. After making a pleasant call on Epenitus Lounsberry and 
his wife Hannah, we spent a pleasant morning in the company of 
Mary Ellen Clark and her mother. In the afternoon we left for 
Cornwall, and were soon again in the hospitable home of Rowland 
Cocks. 

ph. We spent this day in company with the Friends of Corn- 
wall and Smith's Grove at their annual picnic on the grounds of 
James Seaman and sisters, and in quiet, social mingling had a very 
enjoyable time. We met there some cousins of whom we had 
some previous knowledge, but whom we had never before had the 
opportunity of meeting. It was an occasion of a renewal and con- 
tinuity of old friendships, and we felt the day had been profitably 
spent. 



278 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Ninth month 8. Weather much cooler this morning, and at the 
meeting hour a goodly company gathered at the meeting-house in 
Cornwall. The message delivered called attention to those prac- 
tical duties which the blessed Jesus declared to be requisite to ob- 
tain Eternal Life. A sweet solemnity spread over the meeting, 
and at its close, the cheerful mingling, the Warm grasp of the hand, 
and expressions of satisfaction, gave the hope that our coming 
together had been blessed. Soon after its close, Charles C. Cocks 
drove up for us and took us to the old home of Jacob Seaman, 
where we were the guests of Jacob's daughters, Elizabeth and 
Hannah, for dinner. 

After resting awhile we proceeded to Smith's Clove, where a 
meeting had been appointed for the afternoon. Between sixty and 
seventy assembled, to whom I was called to explain our funda- 
mental principle and its application to human needs, to preserve 
from sin, and to restore the sinner to harmony again after the com- 
mission of sin. It appeared to meet the witness in many minds. 
I have realized during this visit that there is a great openness 
to receive the practical truths we have to present, when they are 
clearly opened. After meeting we went to the home of James 
and Elizabeth Seaman, with whom we are to stay while in this 
vicinity. 

pth. This morning James and Elizabeth took us to William and 
Sarah Cornell's, Sarah being a second cousin of mine, the daughter 
of Harrison Cornell. We much enjoyed this visit in forming our 
first real acquaintance with these relatives, and the time spent with 
them and their daughters, Charlotte Drake and Charity Cornell, 
will long be remembered by us. In the afternoon we made a call 
on Jesse and Mary Brown, and then on John Hunter's family. 
He was not at home, but his wife Elizabeth and their married 
daughter, Minnie Barton, and a single daughter, Elizabeth, gave 
us a warm welcome. We returned to James Seaman's for the 
night. (3ur ride to-day in making these visits was around and 
among the mountains, these Friends' homes being in the valleys 



Travels in the Ministry 279 

betweeen them, the pure air, the picturesque scenery, all tended 
to make the ride pleasant, and the day healthful and enjoyable. 

10th. James and Elizabeth Seaman took us this morning first 
to call on Elizabeth Joyce and her brother and nephew and niece ; 
next to see Mary and Martha Cromwell, daughters of Joshua 
Cromwell, and to Thomas and Elizabeth Hallock's, where we 
stayed to dinner. These calls were all interesting and pleasant. 
In the afternoon we went first to see my cousin, Elizabeth Cornell 
(daughter of Harrison Cornell), and then to the home of her 
brother, David Cornell, but we did not find him at home. We 
next went to James and Lucy Rider's, remaining awhile, and then 
to Elizabeth Van Everen's, who with her daughters, Grace A. 
Slaughter and Mary E. Ferguson, gave us a hearty welcome. We 
then went to Edward and Esther Cornell's, but neither of them 
were at home ; we met Esther with her automobile a little way from 
the house, but only had time for a greeting. We then returned to 
the Seaman homestead and took tea with Elizabeth and Hannah, 
and in the evening James Rider and son Howard and daughter, 
Florence, came to spend a little time with us. 

The ride to-day was through a very picturesque region, which 
has been much improved by people from New York, who have 
built nice summer residences on the side of the mountain ranges 
overlooking the valley in which the villages of Highland Mills 
and Central Valley are situated. The beautiful scenery, the ex- 
hilarating mountain air, and the genial and cordial welcome with 
which we were greeted in every home, made it a day that will long 
be remembered by us. 

nth. Again James and Elizabeth went with us, first to see 
Mary Ketchum, where in company with her daughter, Olive Bar- 
ton, and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Ketchum, we had a very 
pleasant call. We next went to Nathaniel Brown's, whose wife, 
now deceased, was a cousin of mine. He and his daughter Ellen 
cordially greeted us, and it afforded us much satisfaction to make 
the acquaintance of these relations, whom we had never before 
met. We then went to Quinby and Mary Brown's, remained to 



280 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

dinner, and had an enjoyable visit with them, after which our 
friends took us to Cornwall, to Rowland Cocks', for the night. 

1 2th. Rowland took us this morning first to visit the families of 
his sons Henry and Gilbert, and then to call on Caroline Cummings 
and her sister Ellen Niffen, daughter of Mary Rider, and then on 
the wife and children of Walter Styer. These visits were all 
pleasant, though we regretted we could not see the husbands, as 
they were busy with their daily vocations. In the afternoon Row- 
land and his wife Mary went with us to see Charles E. Cocks and 
his daughter, Hannah, but only found Charles at home. Then we 
went to see Henry Gordon and his wife, Elizabeth, and with 
them and their children had a pleasant social converse. We re- 
turned to Rowland's for the night. 

13th. We left Cornwall this morning by the West Shore Rail- 
road for New York. It had been our intention to stop at Kakiat 
on our way, but the Friends there informed us that in consequence 
of its being the time of their county fair they could not get up a 
meeting during the week, and as our other arrangements forbade 
us to stay until First day, we were obliged to pass them by. From 
New York we came to Little Silver, over the New York and Long 
Branch Railroad, where we were met by Thomas T. Williams, and 
were cordially welcomed by him and his wife Frances and daugh- 
ter Anna. After resting awhile Thomas and Frances took us first 
to Long Branch to get a little view of the ocean and then to make 
a call on James and Elizabeth Lippincott, which we much en- 
joyed. 

14th. Thomas took us this morning to call on Robert White, 
but we did not find him at home. We then went to see Harriet 
Lafetra, and found her brother, Joseph Price, there. He had been 
a playmate in my early childhood, and we had only met once in 
sixty-five years. It was pleasant to renew with him and Harriet 
our old acquaintance. After a short call at the door of J. Edward 
Borden's we returned to Thomas', and in the afternoon started for 
Red Bank, to visit some families there, but none of them were at 



Travels in the Ministry 281 

home. We returned and spent the evening pleasantly with Ann 
Sutherland and Mary Williams, both sisters of Thomas. 

15th. Attended Shrewsbury meeting this morning. A goodly 
number gathered, with whom the spoken word seemed to be appre- 
ciated. After meeting went to J. Edward and Julia Borden's to 
dine, meeting her mother and sister, and after dinner started for 
Asbury Park, where a meeting had been appointed for the after- 
noon. This meeting also was well attended, and was to me a 
satisfactory occasion ; it appeared to be so to those present. After 
meeting we went home to Sea Girt with our dear friend Phebe C. 
Wright, where a cordial welcome from her and Mary Willets 
greeted us. 

Ninth month 16, 17, 18. We spent these days quietly resting in 
the very hospitable home of our dear friend Phebe C. Wright, and 
enjoyed much the social opportunity with her and her nieces Mary 
Willets and Phebe Anna Townsend. We enjoyed also looking out 
upon the ocean and watching the vessels passing in the distance, 
the walk on the beach, and drinking in the healthful sea air, though 
the 1 8th was a very rainy day, precluding our making the visits 
in the homes of the friends of Squan Meeting. 

ipth. This day opened more promising, and in the afternoon, in 
company of Phebe Wright and Phebe Anna Townsend, we started 
out with Joseph Lafetra as our driver, and called upon Samuel and 
Elizabeth Jackson in their beautiful home in Manasquan, and then 
went to the homes of Edward and Abby Lafetra, and from there 
to visit Walter and Jane Reynolds, and then to visit William and 
Elizabeth Johnson, she a sister of Edmund Lafetra. The social 
meeting at each of these homes seemed to be appreciated by them, 
and it was very satisfactory to us. We returned to Phebe Wright's 
and after tea went to the 'Squan meeting-house where a meeting 
had been appointed for the evening. A good-sized number gath- 
ered and close attention was given as the message required was 
being delivered, which was upon the nature of love as applied to 
the foundation and superstructure of a religious life. 



-Sr Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

20th. This was the anniversary of my birth ; now 75 years old ; 
and as it was remembered it brought the feeling that in my life 
with its many vicissitudes, there had been many blessings, and that 
in entering upon the service of the ministry the Lord was lead- 
ing me in a life of a greater usefulness and crowned with deeper 
joys than if I had been permitted to direct my own course. 
And as the day opened and passed a sweet feeling of thankfulness 
seemed to almost overwhelm me, all the day through. We left 
our kind friends at an early hour and went to Roselle, X. J„ where 
I have a cousin on the maternal side residing. Here, too, a cordial 

:.;ame awaited us. They are not members of our Society, but 
are genial Christian people. It was at their home that Pun- 
dita Ramabai and Doctor Joshee spent their vacation while in this 
country pursuing their studies. Our time passed very pleasantly 
with them, particularly in calling up reminiscences of our earlier 
days, as we had only met once before in thirty-five years. We 
remained over night with them. 

21st. We took an early train this morning for Plainfield, and 
were met at the station by our friend Margaret F. Vail, who in- 
formed us that our old and much loved friends Elizabeth Haviland 
and daughter Anna had returned from the Catskills and were wait- 
ing our arrival at their home, where we were soon greeted with the 
warm and old-time welcome. In the afternoon Margaret Vail 
came for us to make some calls on some aged friends who were 
able to get out to meeting but little — and some not at all. We 
called first on Elizabeth Shotwell, and after a little visit in which 
we sought to bring a little sunshine into her life, we next called on 
Man* Force, who was unable to get to meeting though living near, 
and had a pleasant visit with her and her attendant Amy Lawton. 
Then went to the home of Catherine Webster ; she has been in 
ill-health and though better was not yet able to attend meeting : 
here too a cordial welcome was given us. We then went to the 
home of Mary Griffin, widow of Dr. John Griffin, who was one 
of my school-mates at the Monthly Meeting School on Elizabeth 
Street. New York, in our young days — and we next called on 



* Travels in the Ministry 283 

Maria Harned and her daughters Margaret and Clara, and Mary 
Lane, an aged friend who lives with them. After a very pleasant 
visit to both of these places, Sarah C. Hutchinson, wife of Ed- 
ward, came for us and escorted us to the home of Horace and Eliz- 
abeth Phillips to tea, she a daughter of our dear friends S. Robin- 
son and Hetty Coale, of Riverton, N. J. After spending an enjoy- 
able evening there we returned to the Haviland's for the night. I 
omitted to state in its proper place that Mary Cooley, another 
daughter of Elizabeth Haviland, came and dined with us at her 
mother's, and our social meeting gave opportunity for the renewal 
of our former acquaintance. 

22d. At the usual hour for meeting we wended our way to the 
old meeting-house, where we were greeted by a large gathering 
for that place, among whom were several who had never before 
attended a Friend's meeting. The testimony required was to 
point out that amid the unrest in the religious world our basal 
principle stood out unmoved and unshaken, and then to define 
that basal principle and to show how amid all the evolution of 
religious thought it had stood the crucial test. It seemed to meet 
the witness in many hearts, and there were expressions of thanks 
for the lesson given. We went home with our friends, Edward 
and Sarah Hutchinson, where we had the company of their par- 
ents John W. and Eliza Hutchinson, with whom the time passed 
very pleasantly, when our friends, George and Caroline Hallock, 
came for us to make some calls. After giving us a view of some of 
the more beautiful parts of their city, they took us to the Dietrich 
Home, which has recently come into the possession of Friends 
by will for a Home. We enjoyed our call here. We were then 
driven to the home of Alice Evarts, formerly Cock, a cousin of 
mine, but found she was out, which was a disappointment to us. 
We went next to call on Matilda Rushmore, the mother of Dr. 
Edward Rushmore, but found she was ill with the grippe, and 
therefore did not deem it prudent to go in the house. Our friends 
then took us to the home of Anna Rice Powell, where we found 
Isaac and Ruth Roberts, of Conshohocken, Pa., who were also 



284 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

at the meeting in the morning. Our visit here we much enjoyed 
though we sadly missed the presence and genial company of our 
dear friend, Aaron M. Powell. Returned to the Haviland's for 
the night. 

23d. We left Plainfield early this morning for our home in 
Baltimore, reaching there a little after the noon hour, returning 
in improved health of body and with the feeling that our labors 
during the fourteen weeks' absence had been blessed with the 
sheaves of peace, and we trust contributed something to the 
uplifting of the standard of spiritual and practical religion en- 
trusted to our people to bear before the world. 

Twelfth month 6. Having had our minute renewed and ex- 
tended to complete the service in which we were engaged the past 
year, in order to fully finish what seemed to be the work for us 
to accomplish within the limits of New York Yearly Meeting, 
we left Baltimore for New York this morning, and were kindly 
met in Jersey City by our friend, George A. McDowell, and es- 
corted to the Pennington in New York, where arrangements had 
been made for our entertainment. Here we were kindly received, 
and passed an enjoyable evening in company with several of the 
Friends who home there. 

ph. Spent this morning in trying to find an old acquaintance, 
who we finally learned was out of town. In the afternoon at- 
tended the monthly meeting, which was a satisfactory season. 
A committee was appointed to aid us in our work. In the even- 
ing attended the meeting of the Philanthropic Committee, which 
I had been invited to address on some phase of the temperance 
work. I gave them some account of the Anti- Saloon League 
movement, which, from expressions given then and since, was 
well received. 

8th. Attended the meeting at Fifteenth street and Rutherford 
place this morning, which, though it was a cloudy morning, was 
quite large, and as the testimony which seemed to be called for 
was being delivered a precious solemnity gathered over us, which 



Travels in the Ministry 285 

continued until the close. After meeting we went home with 
John Wm. Hutchinson, to East Orange, New Jersey, in which 
vicinity a meeting had been arranged for in the afternoon in the 
Unitarian house. Had a very pleasant visit with John and Eliza 
Hutchinson and their four children at home. 

The meeting in the afternoon was attended by between thirty 
and forty persons, and was felt to be a profitable season. After 
meeting, in company with John and Eliza, and S. Raymond 
Roberts and wife, we called on Herman and Emma Conrow, she a 
daughter of John and Eliza, and then went home with the Roberts' 
for the night. 

pth. After a very enjoyable visit in the home of S. Raymond 
and Jennie Roberts, with them and their children, and a good 
night's rest, we left this morning to return to New York. In the 
afternoon we first called on our dear friend, Jane Russell, whom 
we found bright in mind, but enfeebled in body. Our visit with 
her and our dear friend, Serena Minard, was much enjoyed, and I 
trust was profitable to all of us. We then went to call on our 
friend Phebe Anna Thorne, with whom we had an agreeable 
visit, and then returned to the Pennington for the night. In the 
evening we had a parlor meeting with the Friends living there, 
in which the gospel flow was free, and we trust acceptable. 

10th. We called on our cousins, Samuel and Phebe F. Stouten- 
bury, and went from there to see Mary Nichols Cox, and had at 
both places an interesting and enjoyable visit. In the afternoon 
went to see Martha Sands, wife of Daniel C. Sands, also a cousin 
of mine, and passed a pleasant time with her. In the evening we 
held a parlor meeting at William H. Carpenter's. We found here 
a large family of interesting children, and were led to open some 
of the vital and practical points of religion as laid down by the 
blessed Jesus, and to show that the intent of the Father in these 
requirements was to increase our happiness in this life as well as 
to prepare us to enjoy the life to come in the direct presence of the 
Father. It was felt to be a good meeting. We returned to the 
Pennington for the night. 



286 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

nth. We spent the morning quietly, and in visiting some of 
the guests of the Pennington, one of whom is ill in bed, and with 
whom we left a word of cheer. Afterward we attended the mid- 
week meeting at Fifteenth Street, at which there were about 125 
school children, to whom I had a short message from the text, 
" Thou, God, seest me." 

In the afternoon, in company with Franklin T. Carpenter, went 
to see another cousin, Harriet Cock, and from there to call on 
Sylvanus Jenkins. At both places had some pleasant conversa- 
tion, and then went to Samuel B. Haines', where we were invited 
to dine. Here we were cordially received by Samuel and his 
daughter, Mary, and passed a very pleasant hour. After dinner 
a few came in and we held a parlor meeting, in which I found 
some words of encouragement to express. 

12th. We went to call on an old friend this morning who, 
though not a member with us, has been closely affiliated with my 
family, and enjoyed with him our reunion, as we had not met in 
several years. On my return we went to Sarah E. Gardner's 
to lunch, being joined there by our friend Franklin T. Carpenter; 
and this was a very agreeable visit. From there we went to the 
home of John and Ann Eliza Stringham, and here renewed an 
acquaintance of my boyhood days, with an occasional meeting 
during our mature years. Thence to Phebe Anna Thome's to 
dinner. After a pleasant visit we had a parlor meeting, in which 
I was led to give some encouraging testimony. Returned to the 
Pennington for the night. 

13th. This morning we called on Samantha Lapham and her 
family, and F. T. Carpenter met us there, and we passed a very 
enjoyable hour in their hospitable home. In the afternoon Joseph 
T. McDowell came for us, and took us first to see Elizabeth Lip- 
pincott, now in her 87th year. We found her, while in feeble 
health, very cheerful and bright, and we had to express the feeling 
of thankfulness that we had found her so sweetly and patiently 
waiting the Lord's call. We then went home with Joseph to 
dine, and had an enjoyable time with him and Anna and their 



Travels in the Ministry 287 

children, and then went to Lydia Macy's to attend a parlor meet- 
ing that had been appointed there. We had a nice little meeting, 
in which I was led to open my views upon the new birth and its 
effects. We returned to our sleeping place for the night, feeling 
well in body, though the day outwardly had been foggy, with 
occasional rain and generally disagreeable. 

14th. The day being stormy and unpleasant, we rested quietly 
at the Pennington until near evening, when we went out to the 
Bronx, to the home of Charles and Anna McCord, to dinner, and 
after a very pleasant visit with these young people a few Friends 
who had been invited came in for a parlor meeting, to whom a 
message was given, which appeared to be very satisfactory. We 
then returned to the Pennington for the night. 

This closes our work in New York for the present. 

Twelfth month 15. The weather cleared this morning and be- 
came colder. Franklin T. Carpenter came for us and we went to 
the Brooklyn meeting, arriving in time to take some part in the 
First day School. At the appointed time the house was well filled 
As the message given was being delivered a solemn quiet pre- 
vailed over the meeting. We went home with Edward and Esther 
H. Cornell to dine, and had an enjoyable visit. Toward evening 
they took us to the home of Noah H. and Mariana W. Chapman, 
whose guests we are to be during our stay in Brooklyn. 

In the evening, as a parlor meeting had been announced to be 
held, their large parlors were well filled. I was led to open what 
I understood to constitute the perfected life ; it seemed to meet 
the witness in other hearts, and the meeting closed under a prec- 
ious solemnity. 

16th. Caroline Raymond came for us this morning and took 
us home with her, where we were joined by Hannah Hicks and 
her daughters, Julia and Mary, and by Ella Mayer, and remained 
to dinner and until near evening. Then we went to the home of 
Mary Lewis, and her children, Stephen and Anna L. Valentine, 



288 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

and after tea quite a number of Friends gathered in for a parlor 
meeting, which was felt to have been a favored one. 

iyth. Henry Haviland came for us this morning and escorted 
us to see Phebe Haviland, who was a connection of my wife 
Judith. She is now a widow and lives with her son and wife. 
Then we called at the home of Henry B. Hallock and Franklin 
Noble ; the men not being at home, our visit was with their wives ; 
then went home with Henry Haviland to luncheon, and took our 
evening meal with his son, Henry M., and wife, Susan. In the 
evening we held a parlor meeting in Henry and Sarah M. Havi- 
land's rooms. This afternoon and evening was snowy, thus pre- 
venting some from coming out, but their rooms were pretty well 
filled, and the message delivered seemed to be acceptable. 

18th. Mary Chapman accompanied us this morning to the 
home of Joseph and Isabella Miller, where, in company with their 
daughters Leah, Amy and Laura, we passed an enjoyable day. 
Toward evening Elizabeth Underhill, wife of David R. Under- 
bill, came for us, and in company with her and Amy Miller we 
went to their home for the evening meal, and to hold a parlor 
meeting. This was well attended, and satisfactory. 

ipth. We attended the week-day meeting at Brooklyn this 
morning which was small, but proved a tendering season. After 
meeting we went home with Eliza Nelson, who with her sister, 
Ann Campbell, is connected by marriage with my step-mother, 
Phebe W. Cornell. We found Ann quite lame ; she had been 
unable to walk without crutches or other assistance for some two 
years, and yet is very cheerful. It was very pleasant to be in 
their company. In the afternoon we called on Isabella and Julia 
Underhill, and here we had a little service to cheer and encourage, 
as they had been passing through a season of sorrow from the 
removal by death of loved ones. Near the evening hour David 
B. Clough came for us and escorted us to his hospitable home, 
where in company with his wife, Lucy, and their daughter, Alice, 
and son, Clarence, we took our evening meal, and were afterward 
joined by Elias H. Underhill and Henry B. Hallock and his wife, 



Travels in the Ministry 289 

Anna, and passed the evening in an enjoyable and I trust profitable 
conversation. These friends have been members with us but a 
few years, but appear to be earnest and devoted to our principles. 
We returned to Noah Chapman's for the night. 

20th. Phebe Titus came for us this morning and accompanied 
us to see Robert Hicks, who is much afflicted with creeping par- 
alysis, and is unable to get out, but has his mind, and could con- 
verse with us well. It seemed to give him satisfaction that we 
had called upon him. Soon after our return to Noah Chapman's, 
Margaret Willets came for us, and escorted us to her home with 
Elizabeth Haviland, widow of Aaron, and we remained visiting 
with them and Margaret's husband, when he came from business, 
until after the evening meal. Then we all repaired to the meet- 
ing-house, where we had been invited to meet the Friends at their 
annual " Christmas Social " for the children of the First-day 
School. They had a fine Christmas tree in one corner of the 
meeting-room, and after refreshments in the lower room the 
presents were distributed to the children and others — we coming 
in for a share. The occasion was one of sweet social enjoy- 
ment, in which the hearts of the children were made glad, and 
the older ones participated in the general outflow of loving greet- 
ings and renewals of friendship. We were very glad to have been 
able to thus mingle with them. 

21st. We remained resting at N. and M. Chapman's this 
morning until after luncheon, when their daughter, Charlotte 
Turner, came for us, and went with us to call on Margaret Foster, 
the youngest sister of Rebecca Turner, who formerly lived in 
Baltimore. After a pleasant visit with her we went to see Harriet 
Merritt, who was formerly from Ponghkeepsie, N. Y., which was 
my birthplace. I soon found I knew her father, and that one of 
her brothers had been one of my schoolmates, so that we had a 
pleasant reminiscent conversation, and the time passed pleasantly. 
The shadows of evening had fallen when, in company with Mari- 
ana W. Chapman, who had met us there, we went to the home of 
her mother, Mary Wright, to dine and spend the evening with 

19 



290 Autobiography of J6hn J. Cornell 

her and her children, Dr. John Wright and wife, and N. and M. 
Chapman. As they had been acquaintances of Eliza for many 
years, as well as of myself, the meeting gave us great pleasure. 

22d. This morning Wright Chapman, son of Noah and Mar- 
iana, accompanied us back to New York, to the morning meeting 
here. This meeting, while not quite as large as two weeks pre- 
vious, was acknowledged to be a favored season. The message 
delivered seemed to reach and touch many hearts. We went to 
the Pennington to dine, where we met quite a number of Friends 
and much enjoyed the social mingling until the hour of the gather- 
ing of the mission school for their Christmas entertainment, to 
which we had been invited. It was an occasion of much enjoy- 
ment, and we were glad to have the opportunity of participating 
with them. At 3.30 the regular First-day afternoon meeting con- 
vened, which, while not large, was an interesting occasion in 
which deep feeling was manifested, and an impressive solemnity 
overspread us until its close. Bidding farewell to the friends who 
had been so kind to us, we went with Harry A. Hawkins to the 
home of George A. McDowell, to supper, after which about fifty 
gathered in their spacious parlors and we held the closing meeting 
of this mission. It called forth expressions of satisfaction from 
those present, and I felt it was truly a fitting close of the service 
in New York and Brooklyn. 

23d. We left New York this morning, reaching Baltimore 
about the middle of the afternoon in our usual health, and bring- 
ing with us the sheaves of peace and thankfulness that the Master 
had so provided for our spiritual as well as temporal needs. This 
closes the work embraced in our minute within New York Yearly 
Meeting, and we feel that it will be best for us to remain in Balti- 
more until the winter shall have passed before renewing our work 
within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Travels in the Ministry. — Continued. 

Fourth month J, 1902. Apprehending that it would be the 
proper time to enter upon the completion of the concern to visit 
the meetings and families within the limits of Philadelphia Yearly 
Meeting, we left Baltimore this afternoon for West Grove, in 
Chester county, Pa., according to arrangements we had made with 
some of the Friends in Western Quarterly Meeting. We were 
met at the station at West Grove by Joseph Pyle, and taken to 
the home of Luman and Anna Beitler, with whom Joseph and 
Myra Pyle are at present residing, and met a cordial welcome. 

In the evening a good-sized meeting gathered in the hall in 
West Grove. There were members of a number of different relig- 
ious bodies present, from whom there came to me expressions 
of satisfaction with the testimony in which I had portrayed the 
simplicity of the teachings of Jesus, and demonstrated their prac- 
tical and yet deeply spiritual character, and the effects of living 
them out in our daily life. 

8th. When we arose this morning we found that a very heavy 
rain storm had set in during the night, which continued with 
little abatement through the day, rendering it impracticable to 
carry out the program arranged for visiting several friends, 
though our friends, Sarah Ann Conard, and Sarah Thompson, 
braved the storm and came for us, and took us to Emma Kent's 
to dine. Here we spent a pleasant social afternoon. Emma is 
an old acquaintance of mine. Toward evening they took us to 
the home of Sarah Thompson and Ellen P. Way for the night. 
These too are friends of a long acquaintance, and we found much 
satisfaction in the renewal of our friendship and in a retrospect 
of the past. 



292 Autobiography oe John J. Cornell 

pth. The rain having ceased, we started out this morning, 
accompanied by Sarah Ann Conard and Sarah Thompson, to 
make some calls in West Grove. We went first to see Hannah 
Thompson, who has been an invalid for several years, and who 
is mostly confined to her bed. We had here a little service, in 
the way of social conversation, to leave a word of cheer and 
encouragement. We called on Phebe Pyle, a member of the 
other branch of Friends, who has been confined to her bed for 
sixteen years. We found her very cheerful, and she gave us a 
cordial welcome. She was in a sweet frame of mind, and, sym- 
pathizing with her in her sufferings, we were glad we had been 
to see her. She spoke of her regret that the Society had ever 
been divided, and felt that it was unnecessary, with which view 
we could heartily unite. We then called on Mary Baily, at the 
home of Morris and Elizabeth Cooper, they being her daughter 
and husband. Mary is also one of the " shut-ins." 

We had a pleasant visit with these friends, and left with them 
a word of cheer. As we were returning to Sarah Thompson's 
we met our friends, Joseph and Annie M. Lawrence, who had 
come for us to make some visits outside the borough, and we were 
soon on our way to the home of Pennock and Elizabeth Spencer, 
and his sister Lydia Spencer. We dined here, and after an agree- 
able visit made a call on Eveline Cloud, a daughter of Chalkley 
Webster. She is the only member of her family that is a Friend, 
and we did not meet the others, but had an interesting visit with 
her ; and then Joseph and Annie took us to their hospitable home 
for the night. Here, in company with the parents and their two 
sons, Hibberd and Harry, we passed an enjoyable evening. 

10th. The weather was more pleasant this morning. We at- 
tended the monthly meeting at New Garden, in which I was led 
into close feeling and sympathy with several states which felt 
to me needed to trust more implicitly and confidently the care of 
the Heavenly Father, in order to find that peace which is promised 
to those who trust Him. A deep solemnity overspread the 
meeting, and the feeling was voiced in an appropriate supplication 



Travels in the Ministry 293 

by our friend, Martin Maloney. At the conclusion of the business 
meeting we went to the home of Marcellus Cook to dine, and after 
a time of social mingling we returned with Joseph and Annie M. 
Lawrence for the night. 

nth. A pleasant morning, and after breakfast we were soon 
en route with Joseph and Anna for Penn's Grove Monthly Meet- 
ing, which though not large was an interesting and we trust a 
profitable occasion. After meeting, our friends who had been 
so kind to us took us to the home of the late Isaac Jackson, where 
we were received cordially by his sisters, Elizabeth and Philena 
Jackson, and her two daughters, Anna and Martha, and stayed 
part of the afternoon. Samuel H. Broomell then came for us and 
took us to Franklin and Mary Pusey's. Here, too, we found a 
cordial welcome from them and their children, Abner and Carrie. 
Near night Samuel took us to his own home, where we were kindly 
met by his wife, Mary, and their daughter Ella. They have living 
with them Mary's father and mother, both aged people. 

1 2th. A nearly clear but quite windy morning and we were 
soon on our way. We went first to the home of John and Ida 
Harris, and found her quite ill, but willing to see us, and we had 
a pleasant and we trust satisfactory visit with them. We then 
went to see Susanna Wood and her married daughter Martha 
Wickersham, and then to John Wickersham's, he being quite 
feeble ; thence to Emmor Morrison's, and her daughter, Mary 
Webster. In each of these places we were kindly entertained and 
we endeavored to leave something to be remembered. 

In the afternoon we first called on Samuel's daughter Anna, and 
her husband J. Paul Harlan. They had been recently married ; 
and we had a pleasant visit with them. We next called on Anna 
Kent, a daughter of the late Joseph Kent, and upon her uncle, 
Hadley Kent ; he and his wife are living with Anna. He is quite 
ill, having been confined to his bed for several months with little 
hope of recovery. We found him cheerful and he appeared glad 
of the visit. We then called on Samuel Matthews and wife and 
daughter. The parents are near 80 years of age, but in pretty 



294 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

good health. After a satisfactory visit here, we went to the home 
of Mary Garrett, whose husband deceased a few weeks previously, 
and after a little time of social conversation Samuel took us to 
Lincoln Station to take the train for Toughkenamon, where Rob- 
ert L. Pyle met us and took us to his hospitable home. 

Fourth month ij. In my last letter I overlooked mentioning 
an interesting call on Lydia Watson and her daughter-in-law, 
Lizzie Watson, on our way to the monthly meeting at New Garden. 

This morning we attended meeting at London Grove, which 
was felt to be a tendering season. We dined at Robert L. Pyle's, 
in company with other friends. In the afternoon a circular meet- 
ing was held at this place, and was largely attended, in which 
Margaretta Walton and myself had service. After meeting Eben- 
ezer Maule and his sister, Abigail, took us in their carriage to their 
home, first stopping at Milton and Sarah Darlington's. We had 
a pleasant visit with them and their children, staying to supper, 
and reaching the home of the Maules' in the evening, where we 
were accorded a cordial welcome by Ebenezer and his wife, Mary, 
and daughter Anna. 

14th. Ebenezer and his sister, Abigail, took us this morning 
to visit first in the home of Edgar and Eliza Eastburn and their 
family. We found Edgar in poor health, so we endeavored to 
leave a word of encouragement with them. We next called on 
George and Sarah Coates, and after a pleasant interchange of 
conversation, went to the home of Margaret Brosius and her 
daughter, Lillie. As we had a previous acquaintance with them, 
it soon opened the way for an interesting visit. From there we 
went to the home of Pusey and Adaline Coates and enjoyed the 
kind hospitality extended. After dinner we called on William 
and Emma Wilson, and then in company with Chalkley Webster 
went to the home of his son Joseph and Viola Webster, where 
with their children, we had an interesting visit. 

We then went to the home of Joseph and Mary Brosius. Their 
son-in-law, Judson King, and his wife, and a daughter of C. 



Travels in the Ministry 295 

Webster, were also there. We found that some notice had been 
given them that the visit would be devoted more to the religious 
than the social, and on getting into the quiet I found a service 
which appeared to be well received. We returned to the home of 
Ebenezer Maule. 

15th. Benjamin Maule, with his sister Abigail, acted as escorts 
for the day. We first called on Charles and Emma Bailey and 
their daughter Bertha, and Emma's sisters, Alice and Ruth Cook. 
We found Charles ill with what appeared to be grippe, the wife 
and daughter just recovering from it. We had a word of encour- 
agement to leave, and proceeded to the home of Howard and 
Emma Pusey, and after a pleasant visit went to the home of 
Thomas and Eva Baker, she a daughter of Benjamin Maule. 
After dinner we called first on John and Sarah McDonald and 
their son, William, and then went to the home of Joseph and Sarah 
Booth and their daughter and husband, Hibbard and Mary Yar- 
nall. Then called on Elizabeth Moore and her son, William, and 
wife, Sarah P. In all of these places we were cordially welcomed 
with expressions of appreciation of our visit. We returned to 
Ebenezer Maule's for the night. 

16th. To-day Ebenezer and his sister, Abigail, took us first to 
Henry and Anna Pusey's and to Howard and Alice Brosius' in 
Avondale, and then to Thomas and Emma Passmore's, and to 
the home of Mahlon and Anna Mary Brosius to dine. At each 
of these places we had a very agreeable visit. After dinner we 
went first to the home of Charles and Emma Brosius, and then to 
William and Sarah T. Kelton's and their daughters, Marian and 
Gertrude, and from there to Jeremiah Bernard's, which is also the 
home of Mary Barnard, and then to Sarah T. Kelton's and her 
daughter, Anabel. In each of these places we received a cordial 
welcome, and all appeared to enjoy the visit. We returned to 
Ebenezer Maule's for the night with the feeling that the day had 
been well spent. 

iyth. Ebenezer and his wife Mary went with us this morning 
to call on George Maule and wife on our way to meeting at Ercil- 



296 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

doun. This meeting was well attended, considering it was a 
week day and a very busy time with the farmers. It was felt to 
be a satisfactory meeting. The preparative meeting of ministers 
and elders followed, in which there was some service required. 
After meeting we went home with William and Elizabeth Webster 
to dine, and after dinner they took us to make several calls, the 
first of which was on Mary Smith, her daughter, Sallie, and daugh- 
ter-in-law Mary, then upon Isaac Chandler and family, and next 
upon Alexander and Anna Mode, and then upon Eliza Baker, 
wife of Preston Baker. In each of these visits we had some 
pleasant and instructive conversation. We then returned to Wil- 
liam Webster's to tea, and had a very enjoyable visit with him 
and their children. A little while after supper William took 
us to the home of Emeline Walton and George W. and Eliza- 
beth Moore, who live in the house formerly occupied by the 
Darlingtons as a boarding school, where we remained for the 
night. 

18th. William and Elizabeth came for us this morning to visit 
the Friends and Friendly people at Coatesville. We first called on 
Frank and Edith Keller, and next upon Charles Hewes, and then 
upon Cloud Speakman and wife, and upon William and Priscilla 
Mode and their married daughter, Alice Speakman; next upon 
Jessie Hampton, and then went to Elizabeth Walton's to dine. 
In all of these calls we had an interesting and profitable time. 
Then came to Philadelphia, to the home of John and Emily Long- 
streth's, for the night. 

Fourth month ip. We left Philadelphia this morning on our 
journey to Ithaca, N. Y., whither we had been invited by the 
President and Board of Trustees of Cornell University to occupy 
the pulpit in the Sage Chapel. We felt the liberty to accept this 
invitation, as it afforded an opportunity to present our principles 
to many of the students. Arrived at Ithaca, we were met by the 
President's private secretary and escorted to the guests' rooms in 
the Sage College, where we were kindly received. 



Travels in the Ministry 297 

20th. Attended the meeting in the chapel this morning. Be- 
tween five and six hundred were estimated to be present, a larger 
number, they told us, than usually gathered to the morning ser- 
vice. As I was led to open our views on Inspiration and the 
direct revelation of the Lord's will to man, through the Christ 
within, very close attention was given and many expressions of 
satisfaction greeted us at the close of the meeting from members 
and ministers of different denominations. We felt the meeting 
had been a satisfactory one. 

In the afternoon we again attended a meeting in the chapel, 
which was called a " vesper service," being mostly musical. The 
arrangements allowed me about fifteen minutes for — as they called 
it — a talk on a practical Christian life. This, too, was well re- 
ceived, and our hearts were filled with thankfulness as the evening 
hour approached that we had been favored with Divine blessing 
through the day. 

21st to 24th. Our time was spent during these days in visiting 
various buildings of the University, and in accepting invitations 
to lunch or dine with some of the professors and their families, 
with some of whose relatives we had a previous acquaintance. In 
one family I found a second cousin once removed. We also took 
tea with ex-Governor Alonzo B. Cornell and wife, and the last 
evening dined with President J. G. Schurman and wife — he the 
President of the University. The uniform courtesy and kindness 
everywhere shown us, made our stay here very enjoyable, and an 
occasion that will be long remembered by us. 

25th. We left Ithaca to-day, at 12.05 P- m -> f° r Stroudsburg, 
Pa., where we arrived at 4.51, and were met at the station by 
Samuel Palmer and taken to the home of his son, A. Mitchell 
Palmer, who with his wife, Roberta Dixon Palmer, gave us a 
hearty welcome in their hospitable home, and we remained with 
them over night. 

26th. We had planned to make several calls on friends in 
Stroudsburg to-day, but an unusually high wind, with occasional 
sprinkles of rain, rendered it unwise for us to attempt it. Our 



298 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

dear friend, Anna, wife of Howard Palmer, came to go with us, 
so we visited in the home of our hosts until near supper time 
when, as we had been invited to take that meal with Susan 
Vaniderstine and her daughter Lida, they being near by, we con- 
cluded we could go and were glad we did, for we had a very 
pleasant visit with them, returning to Mitchell Palmer's for the 
night. 

27th. Though the wind had somewhat subsided there was 
enough to make it disagreeable to ride, but a goodly number as- 
sembled in the neat little meeting-house, and close attention was 
given to the message as it was being delivered. The meeting closed 
under a sweet solemnity. Afterward we went home with Howard 
and Anna Palmer to their home on the hill, once the home of that 
dear, faithful Friend, Catharine P. Foulke. After dinner and 
sitting awhile we called first on Samuel and Catherine Foulke, 
and then upon Joseph and Caroline Foulke, they being children 
of Charles and Catherine Foulke. We enjoyed these visits very 
much, and we also enjoyed the beautiful scenery from these homes 
overlooking the valley in which Stroudsburg lies. After tea we 
went back to Stroudsburg for another meeting in the Friends' 
meeting-house, which was more largely attended than was the 
morning meeting, a number of people from other denominations 
being present. Close attention was given as I was led to draw 
the lesson of what constituted an ideal Christian life. Both 
meetings, judging from the expressions which greeted us, had 
given satisfaction. We returned to the home of Howard and 
Anna Palmer for the night. 

Fourth month 28. Anna W. Palmer took us this morning for 
a drive through Cherry Valley to the Delaware Water Gap. The 
weather was fine, the scenery grand, and the opening blossoms 
and expanding leaves combined to make the ride one we shall 
long remember. After viewing the scenery about the Water Gap 
we returned to Stroudsburg to dine with Mitchell and Roberta 
Palmer. In the afternoon we called first upon Elizabeth Mellick, 
who is quite an invalid, then upon Dr. Esther Gulick, a daughter 



Travels in the Ministry 299 

of Charles and Catharine Foulke, and then upon Dr. Walton and 
wife, he a brother of Anna Palmer, and then upon Sally Dreher, 
and stayed to tea with James and Harriet Palmer and their daugh- 
ter, Grace. At each of these places we had a pleasant visit. After 
tea I called by invitation on one not a member, who had attended 
our evening meeting the day before, and had an interesting call. 

29th. Samuel Palmer came for us this morning and took us 
to the station to start for Phillipsburg. At that place we were 
met by Josiah Trimmer, whose wife, Elizabeth, is a daughter of 
that valued Friend, the late Abraham R. Vail, of Quakertown, 
N. J., and taken to their hospitable home. In the afternoon we 
held a meeting in a house belonging to the Baptists, near their 
home. This meeting was small, yet the Master gave us a message 
which was well received, and we felt the meeting was a profitable 
season. We remained with them through the night. 

20th. This morning opened bright and clear, with an invigor- 
ating atmosphere after quite a rainy night. Elizabeth Trimmer 
went with us for a trolley ride across the river to Easton, to Col- 
lege Hill (Lafayette College), to the end of the trolley line, giving 
us a fine view of the river and the scenery in this vicinity. On 
our return we noticed for the first time some apple trees in full 
bloom. Elizabeth then took us to her sister's home, Rebecca 
Case, wife of Elmer Ellsworth Case, with whom we spent the 
remainder of the day, returning to Trimmer's for the night. 

Fifth month 1. We went this morning to the home of Samuel 
Thomas, where we were kindly entertained for the day, though 
his wife was absent from home. In the evening we held another 
meeting in a Baptist house, which was well attended, and was 
felt to be a satisfactory season. While there are but few Friends 
in Phillipsburg, there are some descendants from Friends and 
these expressed their satisfaction for having the opportunity to 
attend a Friends' meeting. We remained for the night with friend 
Thomas. 

2d. We left Phillipsburg this morning for Philadelphia and 
went to John and Emily Longstreth's for dinner, and to arrange 



300 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

for another two weeks' absence. In the afternoon we left Phila- 
delphia for Quakertown, Pa., where we were met by Edward 
Shaw and were soon welcomed in his hospitable home by his wife 
Mary and daughter Emma. In the evening several Friends came 
in to welcome us and to arrange for our visit among them, so we 
passed a very pleasant evening, and remained here for the night. 

3d. In company with our friends, Edward and Mary Shaw and 
Jane Kinsey, we called first upon Speakman Hicks, now in his 
93d year, and his sister, Anna Penrose, in her 86th year, and 
then upon Olivia Meredith, who is in her 87th year, and then went 
to the home of Eli and William Strawn, and remained to dinner. 
In each of these places we had an interesting visit. It was pleas- 
ant to meet these aged people, and have a word of cheer for them. 

After meeting, in the afternoon, Jane Kinsey went with us first 
to call on Sarah T. Green, a sister of William M. Jackson, of 
New York, with whom and her daughter, Mary E. Green, we had 
an enjoyable call. We then went to see Mary Reeder, who is in 
her 94th year, and has been confined to her bed for some time, 
cared for tenderly by her daughters Margaret Zorns and Sarah 
Johnson, and son Isaac Reeder. As I sat by the bedside of this 
dear Friend, the feeling came very strongly that she was only 
patiently waiting to be called home, to which feeling I gave ex- 
pression as a word of cheer. We went to Dr. W. H. Meredith's 
and his wife Irene's home for tea. After tea Edward and Mary 
Shaw came for us and took us to Ann Johnson's, who is now in 
her 84th year, and living with her son William and his wife 
Hannah, and after an hour of pleasant intercourse we went to 
Hannah Shaw's, where a number of her children and grand- 
children had gathered, and here we spent another hour in an 
enjoyable and, I trust, profitable conversation, returning to Dr. 
Meredith's for the night. 

4th. A beautiful bright spring morning, with an invigorating 
atmosphere, greeted us on our awaking, bringing a refreshing 
feeling with it. About 10 o'clock we wended our way to the meet- 
ing-house, one side of which was soon comfortably filled with an 



Travels in the Ministry 301 

interesting and inquiring company, to whom I was led to open 
the spiritual view of regeneration and its necessity for our true 
spiritual advancement and growth. A sweet solemnity over- 
spread the meeting while the message was being delivered, which 
continued until the close. Those who remained for the First-day 
School, and this comprised a large part of the meeting, were 
called to order by the superintendent, Jane Kinsey, and we took 
a little part in the interesting exercises which followed. After 
the close of the school we went home with Jane M. Foulke and 
her daughter Eleanor, who, with Jane's sister, Susanna Levick, 
gave us a cordial welcome. We also had the company of Pro- 
fessor Edwin Hart and wife, from Lafayette College, of Easton, 
Pa. After dinner and a little rest Eleanor took us to make a call 
on Stephen Foulke and family, meeting there quite a number of 
others who had called. We had here another pleasant visit, and 
returned to Jane Foulke's to tea. In the evening another meet- 
ing was held in the meeting-house, which proved to be larger than 
the morning meeting. The message offered was on the nature 
and requirements of love as applied to our everyday life. Close 
attention was given, and satisfaction expressed at its close, that 
we had been among them. We returned to Jane Foulke's for 
the night. 

fjth. We came to Baltimore today, and will not resume our 
mission again until the 22d of this month, when we expect 
to take it up again at Kennett Square. 

Fifth month 12. We left Baltimore this morning for Hopewell, 
Frederick county, Va., to attend Fairfax Quarterly Meeting, and 
to visit some of the families belonging to Hopewell Monthly 
Meeting prior to the quarterly meeting. We were met at Steven- 
son Station, on the B. & O. R. R., about noon by our friend 
David W. Branson, and taken to his hospitable home, and were 
cordially received by his family, consisting of his wife Ann B. 
and son William and wife. After dinner and a little rest we 
started, accompanied by David and Ann, to call on some friends, 



302 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

first at the home of William and Sophia Robinson, and then went 
to see James and Sarah Stevenson, both now past their 8oth year. 
In both these homes we had pleasant and interesting visits. David 
then took us to see his brother, Jonathan Branson, who, with his 
wife Carrie and their daughter Tacy Branson Doing and her hus- 
band J. Harald Doing, gave us a warm welcome. We remained 
there for the night. 

13th. David and Ann came for us this morning and took us 
first to see Samuel Pidgeon, another Friend over 80 years of age. 
We had an enjoyable visit with him and his three daughters, and 
then went to his son Lewis's to dine, and were hospitably received 
by his wife Susan and their children. After dinner David and 
Ann took us first to see Mary Jackson, who is not able to get out 
to meeting, and then to Frank and Elizabeth Clevenger's to tea. 
After tea David and Ann left us to return to their home, and 
Frank Clevenger took us to Daniel Wood's, where we were wel- 
comed by Daniel and his daughters, Mary and Clara, and by Mar- 
garet Loman, a relative of theirs. We remained for the night. 

14th. Daniel Wood took us this morning to Winchester, where 
notice had been given that we would be at their mid-week meeting. 
The meeting was well attended, and was felt to be a satisfactory 
season. We went to dinner with Robert and Mary Wickersham. 
In the afternoon Daniel took us first to call on Elizabeth Brown 
and her daughter, Elizabeth being feeble and unable to get out to 
meeting. We then called on Mary Ellen Brown and had a pleas- 
ant visit with her and her daughters, the husband being away 
from home at work. We next called on Ellen Robinson, another 
one of those unable to get to meeting. Our friend James Robin- 
son met us here and took us to his home, where another cordial 
greeting was given by his wife, Sally, and their children. In the 
evening quite a number of Friends and others gathered in, and 
we held an interesting and I believe profitable parlor meeting, 
which closed under much tenderness of feeling. We remained 
here for the night. 



Travels in the Ministry 303 

15th. James Robinson and his wife went with us some seven 
or eight miles to Gainesboro, where a meeting had been appointed 
for 10 o'clock. It was held in a union meeting-house, usually 
occupied by the Methodists. About sixty assembled, which was 
thought to be a good-sized meeting for the place at this busy sea- 
son of the year. After meeting we went to the home of Joseph 
and Rebecca Robinson to dinner, and then came back to Josiah and 
Mary Jane Robinson's to tea. A meeting had been arranged for 
in the evening at Winchester, at which the subject of Temperance 
was to be presented. It was largely attended, and much expres 
sion of satisfaction was given. After the meeting we went home 
with William and Mary Smith for the night. 

16th. Jonah L. Rees and his sister-in-law, Mary Jackson, came 
for us this morning about 8 o'clock for a ride of some ten miles 
to make a call on some Friends who are quite remote from meet- 
ing, calling first on Jacob and Ella Rees, and then drove to Mary 
Hackney's to dinner. Her aunt, Rebecca Jane Hackney, came in 
after dinner, and we had a short talk with her. These Friends 
seemed to appreciate our visit to them, and it was an enjoyable 
one to us. After sitting awhile we started on our return, and 
came back to John and Ann Bond's for the night, and here had 
another pleasant visit. 

iyth. John Bond took us this morning to visit our dear friend 
Elisan Brown and her sister Catharine, and we remained with 
them until after dinner, when John and Ann came for us to go 
with them to the quarterly meeting of ministers and elders. This 
was a meeting of interest, in which I had a message for their 
encouragement. After meeting we went home for the night with 
Jonah L. Rees, accompanied by our dear friend, Mary R. Wil- 
liams. 

18th. This morning opened bright and clear, and at the proper 
time we wended our way to the old meeting-house. The Quarterly 
Meeting at this place is made a time of general meeting for the 
people in the vicinity, and a very large number gathered in and 
around the grounds, and were some time in coming in and filling 



304 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

the house. The meeting was thought to be unsually orderly and 
quiet. They gave good attention, as the message I had for them 
was being delivered, and expression of satisfaction was given at 
the close. After a recess of a couple of hours the First-day School 
Union was called to order, and an interesting and instructive 
program was presented from quite young to the more mature 
young people. It was a very enjoyable occasion. At the close 
of this meeting we went home with Charles E. and Susan Cleven- 
ger for the night, and passed the evening with them and their 
two sons and daughter Bertha in some interesting and I trust 
profitable conversation. 

ipth. We attended the quarterly meeting to-day. There was 
little presented but the usual routine business, although during the 
meeting for worship I found a message to call them to the work- 
ings of the practical religion taught and lived by Jesus. After 
meeting we went home with William Branson to dinner, and then 
went to Hugh and Mary Lupton's for tea and to remain for the 
night. 

Fifth month 20. We left Hopewell this morning for Phila- 
delphia, to resume our mission within the limits of Philadelphia 
Yearly Meeting, and came by way of the Cumberland Valley Rail- 
road. We enjoyed this ride through the Shenandoah and Cum- 
berland valleys very much. The showers the evening before and 
in the early morning had freshened up the verdure, which had 
been suffering somewhat from drouth, and the atmosphere had 
been cooled, so that it rendered the ride a very pleasant one. We 
went directly to the home of our friends, John L. and Emily T. 
Longstreth, for the night. 

21st. We left Philadelphia this morning for Kennett Square, 
and were met at the station by Sally Martin and taken to her hos- 
pitable home. After dinner John Yeatman came for us to make 
some visits outside the borough, taking Anna Mary Martin with 
us, and going first to the home of Isaac and Sarah McFarlan and 
Elizabeth Marshall, and thence to see Sarah Scarlett and her son 
Taylor Scarlett and his wife, Ada, and from there to Marshall and 



Travels in the Ministry 305 

Ida Hannum's. In all these places we met with a cordial recep- 
tion and had enjoyable visits. We returned to the Martins' home 
for tea. In the evening we called on Eugene and Mary Mercer, 
and then on Charles and Louisa Gawthrop, and had, we trust, 
profitable visits. 

22d. We attended the regular week-day meeting at Kennett 
Square this morning. It was well attended. After dinner John 
and Margaret Yeatman took us to visit William and Mary Scar- 
lett, and from thence to Marshall and Emma Walton's, having 
very pleasant visits at both places, and returning to the Martins 
in time for tea. After that Charles W. and Louisa Gawthrop 
took us to Unionville, where a meeting had been appointed for 
the evening. This was much larger than we had anticipated, and 
the message given seemed to be appreciated. The meeting closed 
under a sweet and solemn covering. We returned to the Mar- 
tin's for the night. 

23d. We went this morning to visit an old friend, Hannah 
Stubbs, finding there our friends Mary F. and Mercie Brown, 
from Fawn Grove Meeting, one of the branches of Baltimore 
Yearly Meeting, and visited with them and Eli and Deborah 
Thompson until after dinner, very enjoyably. We then wended 
our way to the meeting-house to attend the commencement of 
Martin Academy, now conducted by our friend, Jane Rushmore.- 
The exercises of the students were very creditable, and we were 
glad we had the opportunity of being present. At the close of the 
exercises we went home with Anna Green, who, with her husband 
Ellwood and son Samuel, and Edith A., gave us a very cordial 
welcome. After tea in the evening we went with them to the 
new Friends' Boarding Home to meet with the Young Friends' 
Association for a social evening. We enjoyed this opportunity 
very much. We remained over night at Green's. 

24th. We went this morning to the Home to call upon some 
of those who did not get out the previous evening, and then to 
John and Margaret Yeatman's for dinner. In the afternoon we 
called upon Anna and Lydia Cox, and found Susan Dixon there, 

20 



306 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

and after a pleasant visit we went to Samuel and Deborah Pen- 
nock's to tea, meeting here with Joseph Taylor, Samuel's brother- 
in-law, and Edith Pennock, Samuel's sister, and then returned to 
the Martins for the night. 

25th. Charles W. Gawthrop took us, with Anna Mary Martin, 
this morning to Marlborough Meeting. To our surprise, the 
house was nearly full. The testimony delivered seemed to be 
well received. The meeting closed after a short testimony from 
Charles H. Pennypacker. We went home with William and 
Martha Tussey, and dined with them and Hannah Martin and 
Amy Moore. After dinner we were soon on our way to old 
Kennett, where a meeting had been appointed for the afternoon. 
This meeting was also larger than we had anticipated, and from 
the expressions given at its close was appreciated. After meet- 
ing, Edward Passmore took us to his hospitable home, where we 
met a cordial welcome from his wife Emma and three children, 
and remained over night. 

26th. Edward Passmore took us this morning to call first upon 
Aaron Mendenhall, and then on Edward Palmer and daughter, 
and next upon Sarah Heald. These were short but pleasant calls. 
We then went to Pennock Pyle's and had an enjoyable visit with 
him and his wife, Hannah Mary, and their daughter, Helen, and 
next called on Sarah Jacobs and her daughter Anna. Sarah is 
now in the 91st year of her age, and in good possession of her 
faculties, has never worn glasses, and can read the fine print of 
the papers without them. It was a pleasure to be with her. Then 
called on Milton and Minerva Walters, and then at William Pen- 
nock's, and made a short call on Milton Mendenhall and wife, and 
returned to E. Passmore's to dinner. We were well cared for at 
each place, though some were so situated that we did not think it 
best to get out of the carriage. In the afternoon Edward took 
us to call on Anna Way and family, and then to Lydia Dilworth's, 
where, in company with her son Horace, and daughters, Deborah, 
Martha, and Elizabeth, we passed a pleasant and instructive even- 
ing, remaining for the night. This family had been recently be- 



Travels in the Ministry 307 

reaved of a husband and father, and were bearing their sorrow 
with Christian fortitude. 

27th. Awoke to find that a much needed rain was falling. 
Visited with this family and endeavored to leave a word of cheer 
with them until about 10 a. m., when Joseph and Anna Way came 
for us and took us first to Franklin Dilworth's, who, with his wife 
Mary and daughter Anna Lee, gave us a cordial welcome. We 
then went to the home of Lavinia Yeatman and her daughters, 
Florence and Gheretien Pyle, and remained to dinner. We had 
an agreeable and I trust profitable visit here, our conversation 
calling up many reminiscences of the past, and drawing a lesson 
from some of those experiences. We then called on James G. 
Cloud and Francena, his wife, and daughter Lillian and son Wil- 
liam, and after a pleasant social visit went to William J. and 
Amanda Cloud's, where several had come in to meet us. We 
endeavored to interest them in cheerful conversation, leaving some 
lessons of instruction, and then went to T. Ellwood and Ella Mar- 
shall's, where, with his and her mother and three children, Alfred, 
Henry and Estelle, and with Joseph and Anna Way, we passed 
an enjoyable evening and remained for the night. 

28th. Ellwood Marshall went with us this morning to call on 
his mother Mary Marshall, and then to Nathaniel and Sarah 
Way's, who, with their children, gave us a cordial welcome, and 
in both homes had a pleasant visit. After dinner at Ellwood Mar- 
shall's he, with his mother, took us to his brother Israel's, where 
he, with his wife Elizabeth, who is not in good health, received us 
kindly, and we spent a very agreeable hour. We next called on 
Mary Dennison, at Yorklyn Station, and after a pleasant visit with 
her went to Hockessin to call on Dr. and Mary Mitchell, she a 
sister of Ellwood Marshall, and with them and their daughters, 
Bessie, Edith, and Ella, we had an enjoyable evening and remained 
for the night. 

Sixth month 5 and 6. These days were occupied in going to 
and returning from Baltimore in order to attend the marriage of 
Thaddeus Thomas and Anna D. Andrews. In the afternoon of the 



308 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

6th we returned to Avondale, where we were met by Samuel 
Wickersham and taken to his home, and warmly welcomed by him 
and his wife, Mary J., and her sister, Louisa Hoopes, and re- 
mained there for the night. We also found Sarah Thompson, of 
West Grove, there, to welcome us. 

yth. Samuel and Mary J. Wickersham went with us this morn- 
ing to the home of John C. Parrish, son of John Parrish, formerly 
of Woodbury, N. J., where with him and his son Charles and wife 
Anna we had an interesting visit. From there John Parrish took 
us to call on Emma Starr and her daughter Mary, and then to 
Truman and Anna Cooper's, he a member of the other branch of 
Friends. In both homes we were cordially received. John 
then took us to Samuel Wickersham's to dinner. After resting 
awhile Samuel and wife went with us to the home of her brother, 
J. Walker Hoopes, who with his wife Rachel received us kindly, 
and after a social talk we went to John and Sarah Schrader's, and 
had a visit with them and their daughter, Eva, and then went to 
call on Swithin and Margaret Shortlidge. These last two families 
are not members but are attendants of New Garden Meeting. 
Samuel and Mary then took us to Thompson Richards', and left us 
for the night. Here we also received a very cordial welcome 
from him and his wife Anna M. and their seven children, and in 
the evening his brother Isaac Richards and his wife and two of 
their sons came in, and we passed a very social and agreeable 
evening. 

8th. Thompson Richards and wife took us this morning to 
New Garden Meeting. The large house was nearly filled, though 
the meeting was somewhat slow in gathering. I was led to open 
and analyze the subject of Regeneration and the reasons and 
necessity for it ; very close attention was given and the meeting 
closed under solemn covering. After meeting Thompson took us 
to the home of I. Frank Chandler, where he and his wife Emily 
and their daughter Anna gave us a cordial welcome. After dinner 
I F. C. took us for a call on Samuel and Ann Martin, and then to 
Samuel and Martha Thompson's, where we found some of their 



Travels in the Ministry 309 

children, with their companions, had gathered. These, with a 
number of boarders, made quite a company, and we had an ex- 
cellent visit with them until the hour arrived for us to go to a 
meeting appointed in Avondale. This was held in a large hall, 
and was well attended. The means of reaching a perfected life 
and the benefits to be attained therefrom was the subject I was 
led to present. We felt it to have been a baptizing and satisfac- 
tory opportunity. We went to Samuel Wickersham's for the 
night. 

pth. John Parrish and Mary J. Wickersham went with us this 
morning to Emma Wollaston's, where several of her brothers and 
their families came in to meet us. From there we went to visit 
Franklin and Emma Mercer, and her mother Phebe S. Hobson, 
and their daughter Mabel, all of whom gave us a cordial welcome. 
We then went to John and Eliza Harper's, and had another inter- 
esting call with them and their daughters, Sarah Yarnall and 
Mary Harper. In the afternoon Samuel Wickersham and I went 
first to Brinton and Sarah O. Chambers' home, and then to call 
on Gilpin and Sarah Seal, and from there to tea with Martin and 
Jane Maloney and their daughters, Anna Thomas and Cordelia 
Maloney, and in the evening called on Tilghman and Rebecca 
Maloney, where Richard Chambers and his wife Susan met us. 
In each of these places we had some interesting and I trust 
instructive conversation. 

10th. Samuel and Mary Wickersham went with us this morn- 
ing to call first on Lillian Darlington, and then on Benjamin L. 
and Mary Wood and her mother Hannah Martin, an aged friend 
and blind, and next upon Lydia R. Moore, widow of Sharpless 
Moore, and sister of our late friend Spencer Roberts, of Philadel- 
phia. At each of these places we were warmly welcomed and 
had a pleasant visit. In the afternoon the same friends went with 
us first to call on Charles and Emma Wickersham and their 
daughter Abby, and then to Esther Brown's, she being 87 years 
old, and in good possession of her faculties ; from there to see 
Elizabeth Gerkes, where a number of her children and grand- 



310 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

children had gathered, and to Toughkenemon to call on Amy Pratt 
and her daughter Anna. At each of these places we were wel- 
comed, and had some interesting and we trust profitable conversa- 
tion. We then came to Ruth Anna Michener's for tea and to 
remain over night. We miss the genial presence of her husband, 
Ellwood, with whom we had been acquainted in years past. Ezra 
Webster and wife came in the evening, and we had a pleasant visit 
until the hour of retiring. 

nth. Charles Parrish came for us this morning and took us 
to London Grove to their regular week-day meeting, which we 
found to be unexpectedly large. As the message relating to some 
of the practical duties of a religious life was being delivered 
solemnity overspread the meeting, and it closed under the feeling 
that we had been blessed together. We went home with Bennett 
and Tacy Walton to dine. Soon after dinner Ellen Pyle, daughter 
of Robert Pyle, came and took us to call on Stephen Pusey 
and his sister Caroline, who had recently been bereaved of a 
brother. From there we went to Mary McFarlan's, where we 
found her daughter, Anna Hallowell, from West Chester, with her, 
and then to William Clouds' and visited with his sister Catherine 
and his daughters, and thence to Isaac and Elizabeth Swain's. 
In each of these places we had a pleasant call. On our way back 
to London Grove, we called at the door to see our dear friend 
Orpha Pyle a few moments, and then returned to Bennett Wal- 
ton's for the night. During the evening quite a number of friends 
who lived near came in and spent a little while with us enjoyably 
and I hope profitably. 

12th. Francis W. Hicks came for us this morning and took us 
first to see Anna Chambers. This dear friend has been passing 
through deep trials, being suddenly bereft of her husband while 
she was in the hospital after undergoing a severe surgical opera- 
tion. We found her cheerful and bravely bearing her sorrows. 
We then went to see Anna Palmer and her daughters Rachel and 
Abby, and then called on Ellwood and Ida Glisson, and made 
a short stop at Morris and Mary Chambers' and from there to 



Travels in the Ministry 311 

Charles and Mary Chambers' where we found her mother, the 
widow of Ezra Smedley, and then went to Samuel and Mary 
Pusey's, and there met his brother William and their aunt, Philena 
Pusey, and their sister Helen Pusey, and then to Francis W. 
Hicks' to dinner, meeting a cordial reception from his wife, Mar- 
garet. In each of these places we met the same kind reception 
which has been given in the families we have heretofore visited. 
In the afternoon Francis and Margaret Hicks went with us to 
John I. and Caroline Carter's, and then to Lamartine and Adelaide 
Wood's ; we called a few moments on Howard Pusey, and then 
went to Samuel and Elizabeth Pennock's to tea with them and 
his mother Anna Pennock and Elizabeth's sister, Bertha Lippin- 
cott, and their Aunt Deborah. Made a short call on Hannah 
Michener and returned with Francis and Margaret for the night, 
feeling somewhat fatigued with the very full day, but believing 
that it had been well spent. 

Sixth month 13. Chalkley and Anna Bartram came for us this 
morning, and took us first to Thomas and Florence Baker's, then 
to Davis Allen's, and to Evan and Ella Spencer's, to Simon 
and Ella Pyle's, and then to William and Sally Sharpless to dine. 
At each of these places we had a cordial reception, and some 
interesting and profitable conversation. We then called on Mary 
Piott, and on Charles Walters and his children, Bessie, Mabel 
and Townsend, and on Joshua and Anna Thompson, and went 
from there to Edward and Rebecca Pusey's to tea. These visits 
were interesting and satisfactory, and they all seemed glad to 
welcome us. After tea we made a short call on Samuel and 
Anna Moore and Ella Roberts, and then went to Chalkley's for 
the night. 

14th. Ellen Pyle came for us this morning and took us to call 
on Clifton Marshall and family, and Charles Michener and 
family; returned to Robert L. Pyle's for dinner. This com- 
pletes our mission in Western Quarterly Meeting, and in the after- 
noon we took the cars for West Chester and were soon in the 
home of our dear friend, Jonathan Travilla, where, after a 



312 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

night's rest, we hope to be ready for our visits in Concord Quar- 
terly Meeting. 

15th. We attended the closing exercises of the First-day school 
at West Chester this morning, which were deeply interesting, and 
then the meeting, which was large. Close attention was given to 
the message which was given and expressions of satisfaction 
reached us at its close. We returned to Jonathan Travilla's to 
dinner and to rest. In the afternoon we went to the Friends' 
Boarding Home and had an enjoyable visit with the Friends there, 
We had another large meeting here in the evening, with a testi- 
mony conveying some lessons from the teachings of Jesus, under 
which a sweet solemnity overspead the meeting. We retired 
with the feeling that while the day had been full it had been 
satisfactorily spent. 

16th. Alfred D. Sharpless and Lavinia C. Hoopes went with 
us this morning to call first upon Peter and Jane Smedley ; Caleb 
and Susan Taylor came in to meet us. Then we went to Sarah 
Hall's, and then to call on Mary Beck, and on Mary Jenkin- 
son. All these friends were advanced in years, and all appeared 
to enjoy with us these social calls. We next went to see Town- 
send Walters, who is nearly 87, and is lamed from a broken hip. 
We found him bright in intellect and had with him a very agree- 
able visit. He is quite hard of hearing, but he asked me to take 
his hand and to my surprise while holding it he could hear dis- 
tinctly without my raising my voice. This was so new to me that 
I felt it worthy of notice. We then went to see Anna and Amy 
Ann Seeds, but found the latter too ill to see us, so after a little 
visit with the former we went to the Friends' Boarding Home for 
dinner and a little rest. In the afternoon the same friends went 
with us to call on Josiah Hoopes, an old friend of mine, and had 
a very pleasant call. We went next to call on Frances Marshall, 
who, with her three daughters and son, gave us a cordial welcome, 
and then went to Sally and Mary Bonsall's for tea. A heavy and 
much needed shower set in just as we reached here and continued 



Travels in the Ministry 313 

until sometime in the night. We had a pleasant visit with them, 
as they were friends we had known in Baltimore. 

ifth. Alfred D. Sharpless came for us again this morning and 
took us to make our calls, first upon Caleb and Rebecca Sharpless 
and their two daughters, then on Mary Garrett and daughter 
Anna, on Edmond and Sarah Hoopes, and then on Joshua L. and 
Caroline Garrett, and on Amos and Anna Garrett, and next to his 
own home, where we visited with him and his wife Rachel and 
two of their children ; then- on Lydia and Sally Mendenhall, and 
on Hannah Hoopes and her two daughters, leaving us at Dr. 
Jesse Green's to dine with him, his sister-in-law Ann Williams, 
and his son William. The visits this morning were deeply inter- 
esting and I trust instructive. In several of the homes we found 
some aged and infirm ones, whom we sought to cheer. In the 
afternoon Alfred came for us and took us to call on Susanna 
Painter and her sisters, Mary Garrett and Lydia Williams, and 
then upon Elva Foulke and her daughters, Helen, Lydia, and 
Eliza, and on Ellwood and Amy Hickman, and Charles and Eliza- 
beth Pennypacker, and Anna Wood and her daughter Mary ; and 
we were met here by Anna Darlington and Alice Derrick and her 
husband. We then went to visit Jesse and Susan P. Taylor and 
their daughter Edith, and to Phebe Paxson's for tea, meeting 
here her sons Edward and Charles and his wife and several friends 
who came in the evening, returning to J. Travilla's for the night. 
At each of these places, as well as those of the morning, we were 
met with a cordial welcome. 

18th. Mary Travilla went with us this morning to call on Re- 
becca Speakman and her niece, Eliza Fell. Rebecca is blind and 
quite hard of hearing, but very cheerful and happy. Then we 
went to see Mary Parker and her son Edgar and wife and daugh- 
ter Elizabeth, and then to the week-day meeting. This meeting 
was a baptizing season in which the message was given for the 
cheering and uplifting of each heart. We went home to dine with 
John P. Worth, and his son Herbert Worth and Caroline, Her- 



314 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

bert's wife. After dinner Jonathan Travilla came for us and took 
us to Marshallton to call on Alfred and Anna Hallowell, where 
we found his mother Martha Yerkes, and her mother Mary Mc- 
Farlan, and John R. Baldwin and daughter from Romansville 
came in. We then went to call on Henry Hall and his father, and 
to William and Rachel Hayes's to tea, finding there his aged 
mother Caroline Hayes, and his daughter Mary Gawthrop from 
Baltimore, then called on Isaac and Ruth Esther Haines and their 
daughter Mary ; some other friends were also there. We re- 
turned to Herbert Worth's for the night. 

igth. Jonathan Travilla and Lavinia C. Hoopes accompanied 
us this morning to make a number of calls — first upon Amy Storm 
and Elizabeth Corson, then successively upon Phebe Ann Martin, 
Ann Hannum, Susan Hall, Phebe Bailey, and Rebecca Clayton, 
Anna L. Moore, Abby Leedom, wife of Edwin, and Abigail 
Hoopes and her daughter Ellen. In the afternoon we visited 
Lownes Taylor and family, Isaac Garrett and wife, Lewis K. 
Stubbs and wife, and his mother, Mary Ann Stubbs, and Russell 
and Anna Hoopes. We took tea with Jesse and Eva Darlington, 
and his daughter, and were met here by Mary and Anna Darling- 
ton, and spent the evening pleasantly. In these visits we found 
some who had been passsing but recently through deep sorrow, 
and were able to leave with them a word of cheer. All of these, 
as had been done in all of the previous visits, expressed to us their 
satisfaction in having us visit them in this social way, and as each 
night came in taking a review of the day a sense of blessing 
covered our spirits. 

Sixth month 20. Dr. Jesse C. Green and Mary Travilla went 
with us this morning to call upon Enoch Hannum and his sister- 
in-law Martha Michener, and from there we went to Joseph Bell's 
and his sister Lucy Bell, and then to call on Rebecca B. Comly 
and William S. Haviland, and then drove out to Richard and 
Elizabeth Darlington's. We called on Mary Darlington, widow 
of Smedley Darlington, and on Dr. Edward Palmer and family, 
and went to Sarah Hall's for dinner. In the afternoon Dr. 



Travels in the Ministry 315 

Green and Caroline Worth accompanied us and we made calls 
upon several families, first upon Abner and Melinda Hoopes, then 
upon Isaac and Mary Bailey and their daughter Lillian, Alfred 
Grubb and wife, Professor and Sarah Cockran, Dr. Ehinger and 
his wife Ella, Rebecca Haggerty, Hannah Jeffords, meeting here 
Hannah Mendenhall and Jane Eachus, Elizabeth and Anna 
Broomall, who have the care of a helpless sister from paralysis, 
and Sarah Ange, concluding by taking tea with William and 
Lavinia C. Hoopes. After tea William P. Sharpless and his wife 
came in. In all of these visits, as in the previous ones, we met 
with a cordial reception and expression of satisfaction and thank- 
fulness that we had thus come among them in this way. 

21st. Awakened this morning to find quite a heavy rain falling, 
which, while interfering with the proposed picnic of the West 
Chester First-day School, which we had expected to attend, proved 
a great benefit to the crops in the country. So we spent the fore- 
noon resting in the home of our.dear friend Jonathan Travilla and 
his daughters Elizabeth and Mary. In the afternoon George Steele, 
of Birmingham, came for us and took us to the home of Hannah 
G. Darlington and her daughters, Lucy and Jennie, where we spent 
the remainder of the afternoon and evening with them and her son 
Emlen and his wife Mary, who live nearby. 

22d. Present at meeting at Birmingham this morning, which 
was well attended and was felt to be an instructive season, return- 
ing to Hannah G. Darlington's to dine. George and Hannah G. 
Darlington went with us in the afternoon to call on Wilmer and 
Anna Pratt and then on George W. Darlington and family, then 
to Enos and Abagail Barnard's, and to Walter and Mary Parker's 
to tea. Each of these visits was enjoyable to us, and appeared 
to be appreciated by those visited. 

23d. George and Elizabeth Steele went with us this morning 
to call on Charles and Eleanor Walton, and then on Elmer and 
Ellen Levis and their son and wife Frederick and Ida Levis, and 
Elmer's sister Elizabeth Levis, and then we went to Hannah G. 
Darlington's to dinner. After dinner and resting we bade these 



316 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

kind friends farewell, with the feeling that a very deep and abiding 
friendship had been formed, and went to call on Elisha and Sidney 
Darlington and their daughter, Anna Williamson, and then to 
Isaac and Anna Passmore's to tea, after which George Bartram 
came for us and took us to his hospitable home, where we were 
warmly welcomed by his wife, Ruth. 

24th. George Bartram took us this morning to call upon Hugh 
Steele, where we had a pleasant visit, and then to Lamartine and 
Sarah Darlington's to dinner, where we remained and were kindly 
entertained until near evening, when J. Hibbard Bartram came 
for us and took us to his home, where a warm welcome was given 
by himself and his wife Elma. We remained here for the night. 

23th. J. Hibbard Bartram took us this morning to Willistown 
to attend Goshen Monthly Meeting, which, though not large, was 
felt to be a good one. After meeting we went home with Susan 
Yarnall to dine, and after a pleasant visit with her and her family 
returned to J. Hibbard Bartram's. A parlor meeting had been 
appointed at their home for the evening, but owing to a rain com- 
ing on but few were present. To those gathered a little message 
of encouragement was given, and we retired with the feeling that 
our day had been spent in the service of the Master. 

26th. J. Hibbard Bartram took us this morning to visit J. 
Preston and Elizabeth Thomas. Preston met with a severe acci- 
dent some weeks ago, and is unable to walk. It appeared to be a 
comfort to him to receive our visit, which was prolonged until 
after dinner, when we returned to Bartram's for rest and tea and 
then went to Samuel R. and Mary Downing's to a parlor meeting, 
which was well attended, and proved to be a satisfactory season, 
closing with a short social opportunity. Returned to Bartram's 
for the night. 

27th. J. Hibbard Bartram went with us this morning to call 
upon Mary Gilbert and her daughter, Margaret Garrett, and her 
husband. Mary is now 83 ; our visit seemed to be well apprecited. 
We next called on Hannah Yarnall and her daughter, and after 
a pleasant social time went to the home of Sarah J. Cox, in Mai- 



Travels in the Ministry 317 

vern, for dinner, meeting there her children, Dr. Charles and Har- 
riet McDowell, of New York, and her sister-in-law Gulielma Cox. 
After dinner Sarah went with us to call on Robert Hatton and 
his daughters Elizabeth, Sarah, and Margaret. Found Robert in 
pretty good health for a man of his age — now in his 87th year. 
We had a pleasant visit with them and then went to call on 
Nathan and Elizabeth Supplee, and then on Norman Pyle, and 
then to Marshall and Elizabeth Reynolds's to tea, after which we 
went to Wilmer and Sarah -R. Cox's to a parlor meeting, which, 
like the one the evening previous, was well attended and the 
message given apparently appreciated. We then returned with J. 
Hibbard Bartram to his home for the night, feeling somewhat 
weary with the day's labor, but with a peaceful mind. 

28th. We remained at J. H. Bartram's, resting during the fore- 
noon. In the afternoon we called on Mary Jane Smedley and her 
daughters Anna Smedley and Rebecca Ashbridge, and then went 
to Mordecai T. and Rebecca Bartram's for the night. A number 
of the neighbors came in for the evening to welcome us, and we 
passed the time very pleasantly. 

29th. When we arose this morning we found it threatening 
rain, and it soon began to fall and continued a good deal of the 
day, but notwithstanding the rain we had a good-sized meeting at 
Willistown in the morning and at Newtown Square in the after- 
noon. Both meetings were regarded as favored, baptizing sea- 
sons, and both closed under a sweet and deep solemnity. After 
the meeting in the afternoon we went home to tea with Lydia 
Dutton and her children, and then to Thomas and Isabella Kirk's 
for the night. 

30th. We went to Philadelphia this morning on useful errands, 
and to spend a little time with our dear friends John L. and Emily 
T. Longstreth, and returned to Thomas Kirk's by trolley, and 
were soon on our way to Mary G. Pratt's, and were warmly wel- 
comed by her and her son, Nathan, and daughters, Mary L. and 
Margaret. As this dear Friend, now in her 87th year, is unable 



318 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

to get out to meeting, at her request we held a parlor meeting in 
the evening, which was a satisfactory occasion. 

Seventh month i. We remained, at Mary Pratt's during the day 
resting and visiting with this dear friend, who, while not able to 
get out to meeting, is very bright and cheery. After tea Nathan 
Pratt took us to Malvern, about eleven miles, to attend a meeting 
which had been appointed in the Baptist house. This was largely 
attended, some 300 being present, who gave close attention to 
the message on the ideal Christian life. We went home with 
G. Birdsall Passmore, who with his wife and daughter gave us a 
cordial welcome. 

2d. G. B. Passmore and wife took us this morning to visit 
Joshua and Anna Hibberd, and their daughters Mary and Hanna, 
and after a very .interesting visit with them we went to Henry 
and Martha Fogg's, who with their daughter, Bertha, seemed glad 
to see us, though only part of the family are members. We then 
went to the home of William and Lydia Evans and daughter Eva 
for dinner, and had an excellent visit. These friends are not 
members with us, but pretty steady attendants of Willistown Meet- 
ing. After dinner G. B. Passmore came for us and took us to 
visit Anna Cox, who has but recently been bereaved of her hus- 
band. Here we left a word of cheer and uplifting counsel. Our 
dear friend, Mordecai Bartram, met us here and took us to 
call on Hillary Johns and family, who, while not members, with 
us are Friendly inclined. In this visit I had several questions to 
answer regarding our principles and testimonies ; they appeared 
desirous to learn my views of them and seemed gratified at the 
answers given. We then went to Wilmer and Ella Smedley's. 
meeting there with his father, Ellwood, and sister Lydia, and 
Alice Jenkins. After tea we went to Lewis Smedley's, where his 
wife Selina and their children gave us a hearty welcome. A num- 
ber of their friends and neighbors had been invited in to meet us, 
and after a time of pleasant social mingling we found a word of 
religious advice and encouragement to leave, and then went with 
Mordecai and Rebecca Bartram for the night. 



Travels in the Ministry 319 

3d. Mordecai and his daughter Alice went with us this morn- 
ing to call first upon Jesse Davis and family, then to Ida Thomas 
and children, and then on Ida Davis, her aunt Mary Davis, and 
sister Anna Davis. In the afternoon we called on Howard and 
Anna Garrett, and then at the door of William L. and Phebe 
Evans We then went to Mary Lewis's, near Newtown Square, 
passing through a severe thunder storm on our way. At her home 
we met Sarah Dickinson and Lydia Murray and had with them 
an interesting conversation on the duties of a religious life and the 
need of toleration towards those differing from us in religious 
thought. After tea we made a short call on Joseph Serrill and 
family, and then went to David and Sarah Pratt's, where with their 
daughter, Ruth, we had an enjoyable visit. Dillwyn Lewis came 
for us, and at his home we were cordially greeted by his wife Anna 
and son Hunter ; these friends have only been members with us a 
few years. 

4th. This morning Thomas Kirk came for us, and took us to 
call on Owen and Anna Powell and their daughter, Charlotte. We 
had a cheering visit with these friends, after a romantic ride to 
reach their home, and then went to Lydia Dutton's to dine. After 
dinner we went to the home of Tryon Lewis, and there met his 
daughter Lydia and her aunt Sarah Smith. Then we called on 
Mary Yarnall, her daughter-in-law Anna Yarnall, and a friend, 
Susanna Bartram. From there we went to the Hospital for the 
Insane, to see the matron, Mary S. Satterthwaite, and then to tea 
with William Bottny and family, Mary Satterthwaite joining us 
there. These latter were not members, but attended the meeting at 
Newtown Square. We next called on Holland Beitler and wife, 
and then went home with Thomas Kirk for the night, feeling 
that these visits had been encouraging. 

5th. Rested quietly in the home of Thomas and Isabel Kirk 
until afternoon, when Thomas took us to call on Rachel Hippie and 
family ; going to Mary Pratt's for the night. We were joined in 
the evening by Lewis Smedley and family, and had a very enjoy- 
able time. 



320 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

6th. Nathan and Mary L. Pratt went with us to Middletown 
Meeting this morning, at which about forty were present. After 
meeting we went home with James and Lydia Patchell to dine, 
and after a pleasant visit with them went to Media to an ap- 
pointed meeting in Providence meeting-house, which was well 
attended. After meeting we went home with Henry M. and Mary 
Fussell, and passed a very pleasant evening with them and their 
family, retiring with the feeling of peace and satisfaction for the 
day's labors. 

fth. We went this morning to call on William L. and Sarah 
Green and their daughter, Ruth Cope ; then Sarah went with us 
to call on Hannah Passmore, who is an invalid ; we found her 
cheerful, and left her with a little word tending to deepen her trust 
in the Father's care. We then went to Sarah Underbill's and 
Catharine Townsend's. This visit called up many reminiscences 
of their dear father George Truman, and was much enjoyed by 
us. In the afternoon Henry Bishop came for us and took us to 
Enos L. and Hannah Williamson's, where Henry and his wife 
Susan, and Henry and Mary Fussell joined us. We then called 
on Empson Garwood and wife and sisters, the three sisters being 
granddaughters of Samuel Caley. We next called at Edgar Mil- 
ler's ; had a pleasant visit with his wife and daughter, and some 
other friends who had called, returning to Henry Fussell's for the 
night. 

Seventh month 8. Accompanied by Mary Fussell we called 
this morning on Grace Anna Lewis, George and Anna Fussel ; 
Phebe, wife of Dr. Harvey ; Elizabeth, wife of Dr. Trimble Pratt ; 
Hannah Lewis, Alice and Robert Ash and Edith Chaney. At these 
places we engaged in cheerful conversation and left words of en- 
couragement. In the afternoon Henrietta Walters came for us 
and took us to call on Albert and Lydia Hawkins, and then to her 
home in Wallingford, with her children, William and Caroline 
Walters, and their two children. We passed the evening, though 
warm, very pleasantly. James D. and Mary B. Hull from Swarth- 



Travels in the Ministry 321 

more called and we were glad to greet them, it being the first 
time we had met them since their marriage. 

pth. Henrietta took us this morning for a ride over to and 
through Swarthmore, calling to see Mary B. Hull in her new 
home. In the afternoon she took us to Media, where we called 
upon Clara and Bertha Miller, Thomas and Anna Speakman, and 
Carroll and Henrietta Broomall, and then went to Morris and 
Hannah Michener's for tea and to spend the evening. These 
visits, each of which had its individual work, were much enjoyed 
by us. Dr Trimble and Elizabeth Pratt and Eugene Walker 
joined us in the evening, and Henry and Mary Fussell came to 
escort us to their hospitable home for the night. 

10th. We left Media this morning for Darlington to visit the 
families of Middletown Meeting. Horace Darlington took us to 
his home, where we were cordially welcomed by him and his wife, 
Bertha. In the afternoon these kind friends went with us to call 
upon Ahinoam Smedley and her niece Elizabeth, and Jesse and 
Elizabeth Darlington, and then to Jared and Marion Darlington's 
to tea ; we received in each of these places a warm welcome, and 
returned with Horace and Bertha for the night. 

nth. Jesse Darlington took us this morning to call on Charles 
Johnson and his daughter Emma. They are not members with us, 
but have been attendants of our meetings. Charles is now in his 
85th year and confined to his room. We found him bright and 
cheerful and in a sweet waiting frame of mind. We then went to 
Jared Darlington's, one of Jesse's sons, where a very cordial re- 
ception was given us by his wife Mary. After dinner Jesse and 
Mary went with us to spend a pleasant hour with his daughter, 
Ella Buckley, and four little children, at Concord. In the evening 
Horace Darlington and his family went with us to call on his 
uncle Jared Darlington at Glen Mills, where we spent a social 
evening with him, his wife, four grown daughters and one son. 

12th. We left Horace Darlington's this afternoon for Lans- 
downe, where we were met by Isaac L. and Emma Bartram and 
taken to Joseph and Sarah Bunting's at Darby. In the evening 

21 



322 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

we called on Jennie Garrett and her children Howard and Amy 
Garrett, and then returned to Joseph Bunting's, where we found 
Dr. Painter awaiting us, and with these friends we had an ex- 
cellent visit. 

13th. This morning opened bright and balmy, and meeting 
gathered in the old meeting-house at Darby. The message de- 
livered pointed out the duty of the man in co-operating with the 
Divine for his preservation. The meeting closed under a deep 
solemnity and the feeling of gratitude was voiced in an appropriate 
supplication by my friend Samuel Sharp, who was present. We 
went home with Elizabeth Bunting, and in company with her and 
her daughter Anna, her son George, his wife and children, 
Matilda Garrigues and her sister Mary McAllister, we had an 
excellent visit. In the afternoon Isaac Bartram took us to visit 
his cousin, Ellwood Bartram, at whose house we met the children 
of our friend Barclay White and Ellwood's daughter-in-law, 
remaining until the time for the meeting which had been ap- 
pointed at Lansdowne for the evening. Their hall was filled to 
nearly its capacity, and I was led to explain our fundamental 
principles and their practical application to the work of salvation 
and restoration. The meeting closed under a precious covering, 
and we went to the home of Samuel and Hannah G. Bartram for 
the night. 

14th. This morning Samuel's sister, Sally Bartram, took us to 
call on Martha Garrett and her daughter Elizabeth, where Jennie 
Jackson joined us ; then on Mary Palmer and her daughter Edith, 
then on Caroline Shaffer and Margaret Levis, and to the 
home of John and Jennie Jackson. In the afternoon John and 
Jennie went with us to call on J. Cooper and Mary Cloud, her 
mother, Susan Scull, and her sisters, Anna and Susan; then on 
William and Ellen Bartram, and lastly upon Walter and Margaret 
Hallowell Powell and his father and mother, Thomas and Sarah 
Powell. We returned to John Jackson's for the night with peace- 
ful feelings and satisfaction in the thought that the day had been 
profitably spent. 



Travels in the Ministry 323 

15th. Isaac and Emma Bartram went with us this morning to 
see Elizabeth Thomas and daughter, Marion, and then to call on 
Mary Paxson and daughter Alice, where several others had 
gathered to meet us. We went to Joseph and Sarah Bunting's 
for dinner and rest. In the afternoon we called on Phebe and 
Edward Bartram, on Anna Bunting and her daughters and her 
son-in-law, James Bunting ; called on Cora Mercer, and then 
went to Clement M. and Lydia Biddle's to tea, where we had a 
very interesting and satisfactory parlor meeting in the evening. 

Seventh month 16. Went with Sally Bartram this morning to 
call on Van Lear and Martha Bond and their children, and then 
to John Jackson's, where Gertrude Price met us. After dinner 
Isaac and Emma Bartram took us to call on Hannah Gibson and 
her daughter Elizabeth, and then to see Anna Thomas and her 
mother, Sidney Hunt ; here several other Friends and Friendly 
people came to meet us, affording an opportunity for some instruc- 
tive conversation, which we embraced, and we then went to Abner 
Marshall's, where he and his daughters, Sarah, Alice, and Dr. 
Anna Marshall gave us a most cordial reception. After tea John 
Jackson and Frank Maris came for us and we made short but 
interesting calls upon Lewis Shoemaker and his wife, Ellison 
Stackhouse and daughter, and Elizabeth Lloyd and her brother 
Charles and wife, returning to Marshall's for the night. 

ifth. Grace and Emma Bartram came for us this morning and 
took us to Darby to attend their usual week-day meeting, at which 
about forty were present. At the close of the meeting we met 
with the elders in their preparative meeting, and then went home 
with Davis and Hannah Yarnall, dining with them, their son 
Albert, and daughter-in-law, Mary H. Yarnall. After dinner 
Davis and Hannah took us to West Philadelphia to call at Rachel 
Yarnall's, where a number gathered in to whom I felt drawn to 
deliver a message of encouragement, as I felt some were carrying 
heavy burdens. We then made a short but very interesting call 
on Matilda Garrigues and Mary McAllister, and then upon Town- 
send Kester and wife, returning with Davis and Hannah to tea 



324 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

After tea Isaac and Emma Bartram took us to call on Samuel 
Hall and his children, and Emma and Elizabeth Newlin and 
family, and then to their home for the night. 

18th. Isaac and Emma Bartram took us to call this morning 
on Elizabeth Powell, an aged Friend who is unable to get to 
meeting, and then upon Sarah Shriner and family, and then to 
Joseph and Sarah Bunting's. After dinner and resting awhile 
they went with us first to call on Martha Swaney, whose husband 
had just passed away after a long illness. Here we left a few 
thoughts intended to encourage and console with our expressions 
of sympathy. We then went to John and Mary Conard's, and 
to Elizabeth S. Bunting's. After tea Isaac and Emma took 
us to call upon his brother Joseph in Lansdowne and then back to 
Darby, and Joseph, Sarah, and Elizabeth Bunting went with us 
to call on Rebecca Lewis and her aged mother, and Sidney Lewis, 
who is blind, and here we left some words of cheer. At each of 
these visits we were cordially received, and we returned to Eliza- 
beth Bunting's with the feeling that the day had been profitably 
spent. 

19th. We had a very interesting and satisfactory parlor meet- 
ing in the home of Elizabeth S. Bunting this morning. In the 
afternoon we attended the funeral of John Swaney, at which we 
had some service in connection with two Methodist ministers and 
our dear friend Joseph Powell. It was a solemn and impressive 
occasion. After the funeral Isaac and Emma Bartram took us to 
the station at Lansdowne en route for Concordville, where we 
were met by Samuel Palmer, son of Lewis and Hannah Palmer. 

20th. This morning opened pleasant for the time of year, and 
at the usual hour a good-sized meeting gathered in the Concord 
meeting-house, among whom we were glad to welcome our beloved 
friends, Isaac H. and Anne Hillborn. I was led to open the neces- 
sity of right living and in what it consisted. After a season of 
silence Isaac followed with a corroboratory testimony and Anne 
with an appropriate and feeling supplication ; the Friends then 
opened their preparative meeting. After meeting we went home 



Travels in the Ministry 325 

with Alban and Mary Harvey. After dinner they took us to call 
on Joseph and Margaret Palmer, he being a son of Lewis Palmer, 
and then on Richard and Sally Baldwin and their interesting 
family. 

21st. Mary Harvey took us this morning to call upon her son 
Evans and his wife Elizabeth, Ellsworth and Margaret Darlington, 
and then upon Pennock and Anna Sharpless, where Eliza Hill 
came to meet us, and then to Jacob and Catharine Myers's to 
dinner. After dinner we went to Harry and Reba Fairlamb's, 
where we met his mother, Lucretia Fairlamb, and his brother 
Walter and wife, and then went to Samuel and Edith Painter's ; 
at each home expressions were given of the appreciation of our 
coming among them in this social way. Lewis and Hannah Pal- 
mer came for us and took us to their home for the night. 

22d. ' Lewis and Hannah Palmer went with us this morning, 
first to call on Matilda and Margaret Cornog, then to Henry and 
Amy Pratt's, where Albert Darlington, her brother, came to meet 
us. We then went to Joseph and Hannah Bunting's, where her 
two sisters, Lydia and Mary, met with us, and where we received 
another very cordial welcome. After dinner and some pleasant 
and instructive conversation we called on James and Anna B. 
Broomall and their daughter Frances, and then upon Louis and 
Mary Ambler and their children ; we next went to visit Joseph 
and Isabel Shortlidge, meeting at each of these places a cordial 
greeting. 

23d. Ralph and Anna Harvey went with us to-day, calling first 
upon Joshua and Mary Hannum and her mother, Hannah Hill, 
and then upon Joseph and Laura Paschall, Eveline Watson and 
Anna Paschall, Philena and Mary Temple, and Philena's sons, 
Horace and William. After dinner here we went to Lewis and 
Anna Pennock's, and then to Samuel and Tacy Phipps' and their 
sons, Charles and William, returning with Ralph and Anna to 
their hospitable home. We enjoyed the very pleasant weather and 
the beautiful country through which our visiting has taken us dur- 
ing the whole of the past week. 



326 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Seventh month 24. Attended Concord Monthly Meeting to- 
day and returned to Ralph M. Harvey's to dinner. In the after- 
noon in company with them visited Mary Thatcher and family, 
and called at Lydia Hall's, but found her too feeble to receive us. 
Came back with Ralph and Anna Harvey for the night. 

25th. A very heavy shower this morning rendered the roads 
rough and muddy, but about 9 a. m. it slackened and Lewis Pal- 
mer came for us and took us first to John and Emily Ogden's. 
After a short and pleasant visit with them we went to Matthew 
Wood's, and visited with him and his son John and wife. We 
then went to Irvin and Mary Wood's for dinner, and after dinner 
we called first upon William Hannum, who is much afflicted, but 
cheerful. We called next upon Ellen J. Larkin, and then upon 
Ellwood and Mary Dutton, she a teacher at Fifteenth and Race 
Streets. We then made pleasant calls upon Charles and Jane 
Dutton, and Harry and Isabel Sawyne, and went from there to the 
home of Charles and Arietta Palmer, in Chester, for the night. 
In retrospect we feel the day has been well and profitably spent. 

26th, Elveretta Cutler went with us this morning to call upon 
Elizabeth Sharpless, Howard and Bessie Martin, and then upon 
Ann Eliza Mercer, who is in her 88th year, and in feeble health. 
We then went to Sue S. Houston's, who, with her niece, Ida, 
gave us a cordial welcome, and where, as in the other places, we 
had a very enjoyable time. After dinner these latter named 
friends went with us to call on her sisters, Dora Sproul, and 
Mary R. Sproul and her husband James, and daughters Dora and 
Mary. We then made calls on Sarah A. Lewis, Arabella Hinkson, 
and Alice Buckman, at the Chester Hospital, of which she has 
charge, and then went home with Elveretta and Chester Cutler 
for the night. 

2/th. We attended the meeting at Chester this morning, which 
appeared to be a satisfactory one to the Friends gathered. We 
went home from meeting with Allen and Sarah B. Flitcraft. After 
dinner and resting we went in company with Allen and a nephew 
of Sarah's, Newlin Booth, to attend a meeting I had appointed at 



Travels in the Ministry 327 

Chichester, at which about fifty were present. Just before dinner 
a telegram reached me informing me of the death of my brother- 
in-law, James Russell, at Mendon, my former home, and feeling 
the necessity of being present at the funeral, I shall be obliged to 
forego attending the Concord Quarterly Meeting, at which I had 
expected to be present. We came home from Chichester with 
Lewis Palmer. Eliza will remain and attend the Quarterly Meet- 
ing, and meet me at Chester on my return. 

28th. Started this morning for Rochester Junction, on Lehigh 
Valley Railroad, by way of Philadelphia. My dear friend, Jona- 
than D. Noxon, met me and took me to his hospitable home. 

29th. Spent the morning with my niece in the old home of my 
brother, and in the afternoon quite a large funeral gathered, and 
I was led to make my brother-in-law's upright and patiently en- 
during life under much sorrow the basis of an important lesson. 
After we had laid the remains away I stopped for a while with my 
aged uncle, Samuel P. Cornell, now in the g2d year of his age. 
J D. Noxon came for me, and after a pleasant visit of a little over 
an hour, he took me to the station to take the cars on my return 
route. 

30th. Arrived in Chester about 9 a. m. and went directly to 
Allen and Sarah Flitcraft's, where I found Eliza awaiting my 
arrival, and after resting awhile Allen went with us to call upon 
George and Tacy Gilbert. From there we went to David Bunt- 
ing's, but not finding him at home returned to Allen's for rest 
and lunch. Soon after our return a heavy rain set in, which con- 
tinued until near 4 p. m. We then went to see Jeremiah and 
Rebecca Starr, and from there to call on Leah McGilligan, and 
then upon James and Hannah Harvey, who, though not members, 
attend our meetings, and from there to George and Ellen Booth's 
to tea, and after tea we went to George and Caroline Bunting's. 
These visits were all much enjoyed. George Booth's son Newlin 
then took us to the home of Catharine Stevenson and her daughter 

Catharine M. and sons S. Price and Oscar Stevenson for the 

* 

night. 



328 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

31st. This morning Elveretta Cutler came for us and took us 
to see Lydia Furman, a little distance out of the city, and this 
took so much time we had to forego calling on one or two others 
where a visit had been talked of, as it is necessary for us to leave 
for Fishing Creek to-morrow morning. After lunch we left Ches- 
ter for Philadelphia and the home of John L. Longstreth, from 
which this letter is concluded. 

Eighth month 1, 1902. We left Philadelphia this morning en 
route for Millville, Pa., where we arrived about 7 p. m., and were 
cordially greeted by Joseph W. Eves, and taken to his hospitable 
home and welcomed by his wife, Sarah T. Eves. 

2d. We rested this morning until near the noon hour, when we 
dined with Sarah L. Eves and her niece, Louisa. In the afternoon 
Joseph W. and Sarah T. Eves went with us to call, first upon C. 
Millard and Susan Eves, and then upon Philip and Abby Eves, 
Vernon P. and Margaret Eves and family, and upon Tamar and 
Mary Ellen Kester. After a very pleasant social visit in each of 
their homes, John Eves sent for us to remain with them to tea and 
with John and his wife Susan and their children we had a pleasant 
visit and then returned to Joseph W. Eves's for the night. 

3d. This morning opened bright and pleasant, and at the ap- 
pointed time we wended our way to the meeting-house, where a 
large meeting greeted us. The house being nearly full, and very 
close attention was given, as I was led to define the " Inner Light " 
and trace its effect in the history of the past. We went home with 
Rachel S. Eves and sisters Martha and Mary to dinner. After 
a very enjoyable visit, Rachel went with us to call on Hugh and 
Christine Fairman, and their daughter, Myrtle, and her husband, 
Preston Eves, and then to see Harriet Ecks and her daughter, 
Mary R. Ecks, and found Sarah P. Wilson and Thomas C. Wilson 
there. From there we went to Webster W. Eves's, who with his 
son Edward and wife very kindly entertained us. 

The renewal of our acquaintance with these friends was very 
enjoyable. In the evening we had an appointed meeting in the 
meeting-house, which was nearly if not quite as large as the morn- 



Travels in the Ministry 329 

ing meeting, and very close attention was given to the message 
delivered, and the meeting closed under a precious solemnity that 
betokened that the Master had been in our midst. 

4th. Rachel S. Eves came for us this morning and went with 
us to call, first upon Ellis and Elizabeth Eves, and then on Alcestra 
Sands and her family, and on Parker Kester and his daughter, 
Alvaretta Cline, then to William and Anna Reece's to dinner. At 
each of these places we were cordially received and had a pleasant 
visit. In the afternoon J. Lemuel John and his wife, Edith, took 
us to call, first upon Thomas C. and Hannah Wilson and then 
on Robert and Mary Anna Kent ; from there we went to the home 
of Wilmer and Laura Kester and John and Mary Kester, and to 
call on Thomas and Joanna Kester, and then to Charles and Ellen 
Russell Eves's to tea, and after a very pleasant visit with them, 
as we have had with the others on whom we called, we went to see 
Amos Heacock and his sister, Emily Eves, and to Joseph C. and 
Charlotte Eves's, returning to Joseph W. Eves's for the night, 
feeling the day had been well passed, as a sweet, peaceful feeling 
rested on the mind in its retrospect. 

$th. Shadrach and Rachel Eves came for us this morning and 
took us out into Greenwood Valley, and we called first on Reuben 
Rich and his family. The husband of one of his daughters being- 
ill, we left a little word of comfort with them and then called on 
Frances and Asenath Rote, where we were cheerfully received. 
They were very anxious about a son who lives near by and who is 
very critically ill, so our conversation was intended to comfort 
as far as human sympathy can. We then went to Jonathan and 
Lucina Comer's, and from there to W. Webster Parke's, finding 
his wife Elizabeth such a sufferer from rheumatism as to be almost 
helpless, but very cheerful. They and their children gave us a 
very hearty welcome. We remained here until after dinner and 
then called on John and Susan Parker, and on Charles and Anna 
Kester, and Alfred Reece and his sister Helen, and Elmer and 
Mary Parker, and then went with Shadrach and Hannah for 
a short call on their daughters Phebe and Eleanor. We went to 



330 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Frances Eves's for tea, and from there to Dr. H. S. and Julia 
Christian's for the night. We enjoyed our ride to-day very much ; 
the scenery as we passed up the valley was beautiful, and the cor- 
dial and warm reception everywhere extended was grateful to us. 
So the day was very pleasantly passed. 

6th. We attended the regular week-day meeting at Millville 
this morning, which was well attended, and as I drew some lessons 
from the life and teachings of Jesus it appeared to reach the wit- 
ness in many hearts, and we felt that it was good for us that we 
had been there. After meeting we went home with Milton and 
Emily S. Eves, and after dinner they kindly took us to call on 
Wilson and Sarah Jane Eves. Here we found a large family some 
four miles from meeting, and we endeavored to leave a word of 
encouragement with them. We then went to Avery and Matilda 
Parker's, and then to see William and Eva Eves, and from there 
to Jennie Kester's to tea. After tea we went to Sarah Q. Eves', 
where a parlor meeting had been appointed. This was well 
attended, and proved to be a satisfactory season. 

Our ride to-day was through another valley and in a mountain 
ridge, from which the view of the country was very fine, and as 
the rainy weather (of which we have had considerable) has kept 
the verdure bright and green, we much enjoyed the scenery as it 
came into view from the different points. 

yth. William and Anna Reece went with us this morning to 
call on J. Lemuel and Edith John and their interesting family, 
and then Jacob Kester and his daughter R. Anna Kester, and 
Lucinda Jacobi, and Amos K. Heacock and his daughter, Laura 
Davis, and to Rachel S. Eves and sisters, where we dined and 
rested. In the afternoon Rachel S. Eves went with us to call upon 
Elberta Gardner and upon Clement and Narcissa Henry, and Susan 
Heller and her daughter-in-law Blanche. Then Chandlee Eves 
came for us and took us about three miles north of Millville to 
call on Mary, wife of Clement Parker, he not being at home. We 
went home with Chandlee to tea. After tea Chandlee took us to 
call on his daughter Edna, who was recently married to Dr. J. W. 



Travels in the Ministry 331 

Biddle. At each place we were cordially received, and we felt, 
as the evening hour came on, well repaid for the effort it had cost 
us, and we retired with the feeling that our visits had been an 
encouragement to some to persevere amid their difficulties, in 
seeking to live more in accordance with the Divine requirements. 

Eighth month 8. William and Anna Reece accompanied us 
this morning to call upon Georgie De Mott, Frank and Edith 
Heller, and Frederick and Maud Eves ; we then went to the home 
of Jacob Kester and his daughter, R. Anna, to dine. In the after- 
noon Joseph W. and Sarah T. Eves came for us and took us to 
call on Willis and Miretta Eves and family, E. Truman and Alice 
Eves, Joseph Elias and Margaret Eves, Susan Wineman and 
George H. and Sarah Girton, after which we went to Joseph and 
Hannah Kitchen's to take tea with them and their daughter Ara- 
minta. After tea we called on Frank and Hananh Patton, Edwin 
and Rachel John and their daughters Celesta and Eva, and Thomas 
Wilson and daughter Frances, returning to Joseph W. Eves' for 
the night. This day, like the others which preceded it, was full 
of interest, and we feel that some good was accomplished. 

pth. Jesse John, son of J. Lemuel John, came for us this morn- 
ing and took us to Bloomsburg, distant about ten miles, where we 
called on Elizabeth Hicks and her daughter, Dora Moyer, and 
J. Barton Eves and family. We then went to Catawissa, where a 
meeting had been appointed in the quaint old log meeting-house. 
About fifty were present and it was felt to be a very satisfactory 
season. After meeting we went home with Mary Emma Walters. 
After dinner Jesse took us to Mill Grove, about ten miles further 
on, and left us in the home of Mary Hughes and Elwood, Ara- 
minta, and Anna Kester. In the evening we had a large meeting 
in the Methodist house. From the many expressions which 
reached us it proved to be a very satisfactory meeting. We re- 
mained here for the night. 

10th. This morning Isaac Kester and his wife and daughter 
with three of the family where we stayed the night, accompanied 
us to the home of William U. John, distant thirteen miles, where 



33 2 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

we received a very cordial welcome. We had a baptizing meeting 
with them and the friends who accompanied us. We passed an 
interesting afternoon with them, and in the evening we went to 
Elysburg and held a meeting in the Methodist house at that place. 
This meeting was largely attended, several being unable to get 
seats in the house. The meeting was a season of close 
searching in the portrayal of a true Christian life and closed under 
the precious feeling that it was good for us to have been there. 
We returned to William U. John's for the night. 

nth. Passed the day quietly resting at William U. John's. I 
cannot forbear noticing the faithfulness of this dear friend and his 
family, and his brother Griffith John, in keeping up their little 
meeting, although alone as to other Friends being near. If all 
our members felt the same interest and were equally faithful we 
should find our Society in a more healthy condition than it is at. 
present. 

12th. William U. John and his daughter, Mary, took us this 
morning to Paxinoso, a station on the Sunbury branch of the 
Pennsylvania railroad, en route for Christiana, where we arrived 
about 2 p. m., and were met and taken to the hospitable home of 
Mark P. and Phebe Cooper Several friends came in during the 
evening and we had an interesting time with them. 

13th. Mark P. Cooper went with us this morning to call on 
Charles and Anna Brinton, and Joseph Walker. After dinner 
Sarah Pownall came for us and took us to call on Charles and 
Hannah Maule, Louisa Pownall and family, and Eva Caruthers ; 
from there we went to see Mary Jane Rakestraw and Edith K. 
Bushong, where Edward G. and Mary Broomell came for us and 
took us to Jesse and Ellen Webster's for the night. Each of these 
visits was enjoyed by us and appeared to be by the visited, the visit 
in the home of Jesse and Ellen Webster and their children 
peculiarly so. 

14th. Jesse and Ellen Webster went with us this morning to 
William and Hannah Paxson's and then to Joseph and Mary 
Paxson's. In the afternoon they went with us first to call on Clyde 



Travels in the Ministry 333 

and Emma Leyman who have only been members with us for a 
few years ; we encouraged them to faithfulness and then went to 
Elvira Wright's and from there to John and Mary Morris', but 
did not find them at home. We then came to Charles and Eliza- 
beth Thomas', where Jesse and Ellen left us. 

15th. Charles and Elizabeth Thomas took us this morning first 
to call on John and Priscilla and then upon Nathan Maule, his 
daughter-in-law Phebe, and her children. We found Nathan quite 
feeble but glad to see us ; his wife had been called from home by 
the ' sudden illness of her brother-in-law, Taylor Mercer. We 
then went to Jason and Anna Moore's and with them and her 
mother, Beulah Webster, we had another pleasant call ; we then 
called on Henry and Mary Moore and found them, though well 
advanced in years, pretty comfortable, and they gave us a cordial 
welcome. We next called on Samuel Whitson and his sister Jane 
Hamilton and then, went to Edward G. and Mary Broomell's 
where we remained for the rest of the day. 

16th. Anna Pownall this morning took us to call upon Deborah 
G. Pownall and her daughters Eliza H. and Sarah, and on Anna 
Kent, wife of Mahlon Kent ; we went to see the new meeting-house 
which they are erecting here, and which, we think when completed 
will be a very neat and commodious building creditable to the 
Friends. We then went to call on Dr. Joseph D. and Emily Pow- 
nall, and then on Francis and Mary Whitson, where we found her 
sister Louisa Pownall, from Altoona. After this we went to 
William and Mary Brinton's to dine with them and their daugh- 
ters Estella and Ethel. After dinner we called on Morris and 
Gertrude Brinton and then at Ellwood Pownall's and had a nice 
visit with his wife, Mary, and their daughter Mary, he not being 
at home. We then went with Anna Pownall to her home and 
there, with her sisters Deborah Satterthwaite and Phebe Pownall 
we had a restful visit. We next called on Isaac and Emily Slo- 
cum, and after tea on Brinton and Louisa Walters, going to Mark 
P. Cooper's for the night, having had a pretty full but interesting 
and satisfactory day. 



334 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Eighth month iy. We attended the meting at Sadsbury this 
morning. The house was well filled with an attentive and appre- 
ciative audience. After meeting we went home with William and 
Lydia Jackson to dinner, where with them and their daughters 
Bessie, and Mary, wife of John Morris, and Louisa Pownall, we 
had an interesting visit until the time came to go to Bart, where 
a meeting had been appointed for the afternoon. Our friends 
Mark P. and Phebe Cooper accompanied us to this meeting. The 
house was nearly filled and satisfaction was expressed for the 
message given. After meeting Alison and Anna Baker took us 
to Benjamin H. Pownall's to tea, and we had a pleasant visit with 
him and his daughter Lillian, and some other friends who were 
present, and then Alison and Anna took us to their hospitable 
home for the night. 

18th. Alison and Anna Baker went with us to-day, taking us 
first to call on James and Josephine Jackson and their daughters 
and then on Charles and Maluan Jones, and upon Alison's 
father, Thomas Baker, and his brother Lewis and wife, and from 
there to Anna Brinton's, widow of Howard Brinton, who has been 
deceased but a few months ; and here, in company with her step- 
sons, Thomas and Lewis, and J. Eugene and Emma Baker, we had 
an interesting visit until after dinner. We then went to Emerson 
and Lizzie Walton's who with their family have recently applied 
for reception into our Society. We next called on David and 
Philena Jackson and their son Lindley, and here we found Anna 
Lynch, from Oxford, and after a pleasant visit with them we 
next went to the home of Martha Walton, now 90 years of age, 
whom we found tenderly cared for by her daughters, Elva and 
Hannah. Remaining here for tea we next called on Baker and 
Edna Jackson where we met his father and mother, Ellwood and 
Lucy Jackson, and after a short but pleasant call Alison took us to 
Alban and Mary Walton's for the night, 

19th. Alban and Mary Walton went with us this morning to 
call first upon Gilbert and Edith K. Bushong, and then to Quarry- 
ville, where a meeting had been arranged at the request of Amos 



Travels in the Ministry 335 

Gilbert. The meeting was held in the German Reformed house, 
and between seventy-five and one hundred were present, although 
but few hours' notice had been given. It proved to be a satisfac- 
tory meeting to us and we had reason to believe from expressions 
given it was so to those assembled. There was a great openness 
among them, and a very kindly and brotherly welcome was given 
by the minister who was present. We went home with Amos 
and Olive Gilbert to dine ; we found Hannah Gilbert, the mother of 
Amos, there, and were met with a warm welcome. After dinner 
we called on Hugh and Hannah Gilbert, he a brother to Amos, 
and then upon Anna B., wife of J. Haines Dickinson, and Ruth 
Anna, her mother, after which we called on Moses and Eva Pow- 
nall and then went to see Susan Emma, widow of J. Comly Maule, 
and her sons Norman and William ; at each of these places we 
were warmly received and had an interesting visit. We then went 
home with Alban and Mary Walton, and after a little rest Alban 
took us to meet James and Josephine Jackson who were to take 
ns to Atglen, where it had been arranged for me to deliver an 
address upon the subject of temperance. This meeting was well 
attended and appeared to give satisfaction. At its close we went 
to the home of Samuel Whitson for the night. 

20th. Francis Brinton came for us this morning and took us 
to< the home of George and Belle Bonsall and his sister Anna 
Mary Glick. These Friends have recently buried their mother. 
After a few words of cheer we next went to the home of Albert 
Brinton, where we had a pleasant visit with his wife and aunt 
Susan Brinton, and then Francis took us to his home with his 
father and mother, Cyrus and Rebecca Brinton (she being an in- 
valid and unable to walk from a broken limb, but very cheerful), 
and his sisters, Anna and Martha. After dinner Francis took us 
to the home of Gilbert and Elizabeth Eavenson, but we did not 
find them in, so we went next to George and Elizabeth Whitson's 
for a short call, and then to our kind friends Mark P. and Phebc 
Cooper's to tea, after which we took the train for Overbrook, near 
Philadelphia, this closing our mission at Sadsbury and Bart. The 



336 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

work was a very pleasant and satisfactory one, and expressions 
of gratification were given at our coming among them on our 
mission of meeting the families in a social way. At Overbrook we 
were met by Rowland and Helen Comly and taken to their hos- 
pitable home for the night. 

21st. We remained with Rowland and Helen Comly for the 
day, he taking us in the afternoon to call upon Sarah Webster and 
her niece, and then upon Caroline Roberts and her sister Sarah 
Schlater, and in the evening several Friends called to see us. It 
was a quiet, restful day, and our visit very pleasant. 

22d. Mary Chambers, wife of Cyrus Chambers Jr. came for 
us this morning and took us to the Colored Children's Home to 
call on the caretakers there, who are Friends, Maurice and Laura 
Lundy. We enjoyed this call, and were much pleased with the 
neatness of the place and the evident effort to make their waifs of 
some use to themselves and to society. Mary then took us home 
with her, where, with Cyrus and their daughter Alice, we re- 
mained until evening, when Rowland Comly, in company with 
Thomas Wynne came for us and took us to call on Joseph and 
Elizabeth Cranston and family, and then upon Tillie, sister of 
Davis Young, returning to Cyrus Chambers' for the night. 

23d. Mary Chambers took us for a ride this morning over to 
Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, which we enjoyed very 
much. In the afternoon Rowland Comly came for us and took 
us to call on Newton and Susan Smith, and then upon Lydia 
Coggin, who is nearly 90 years of age, and walks nearly a mile to 
meeting, and then upon Leedom and Anna Barnard and her sister 
Mary Leedom, and then upon John and Mary Owens, and to 
Thomas Wynne's for the night. 

Eighth month 24. Rowland Comly took us this morning to 
Merion Meeting, which was quite large for that place. Very close 
attention was given to the message delivered, in which the basal 
principles of Friends were endeavored to be explained, and their 
adaptation to human needs shown, eliciting much satisfaction at 
the close of the meeting, and from a number who had never before 



Travels in the Ministry 337 

attended a Friends' meeting. A sweet and precious solemnity 
overspread the meeting, which appeared to be keenly appreciated. 
We went home with Rowland to dine, and after dinner he and his 
wife Helen went with us to Haverford, where a meeting had been 
appointed for the afternoon. This meeting, too, was largely at- 
tended for the place, and as the lesson drawn from the answer 
of Jesus to the young man who inquired what he should do* to in- 
herit eternal life was given, it seemed to reach and find acceptance 
in many hearts. After meeting we found Isaac Sharpless, presi- 
dent of Haverford College, and his wife, were among those who 
were present. We went home with Samuel Hibberd, who, with 
his daughter Mary, and her husband, George Dickinson, gave us 
a cordial welcome. 

25th. Samuel Hibberd took us this morning to call on William 
and Ellen Elizabeth Kirk and their daughter, and on Elizabeth 
and Debby Kirk, sisters of William. After dinner we went to call 
on Powell Dickinson and his daughter Blanche, and then on Wil- 
liam Carter and his wife. We found Hannah Lewellyn there 
to meet us. We then went to Augustus and Hannah Leedom's, 
and then home to Samuel Hibberd's to tea. In the evening we 
went to Sarah Kirk's, who with her sons, William, Garrett, and 
John, gave us a cordial welcome. 

26th, Samuel Hibberd took us this morning to call on Mary, 
wife of Frederick Grant, and then to Samuel and Elizabeth Hart's, 
a ride of about five miles, where we stayed to dinner. In the 
afternoon we went to Samuel and Mary Morris' to tea, and had 
an enjoyable visit with them. In the evening Samuel Hibberd and 
his daughter took us to Joseph and Emily Leedom's, where their 
children and George and Emma Williamson met us. We had a 
parlor meeting, in which I was led to offer some words of encour- 
agement, drawn from the lesson given in the experience of the 
blessed Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. After a little interest- 
ing social conversation we returned with Samuel Hibberd for the 
night. 

22 



338 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

2 ph. This afternoon, after waiting the passing of a thunder 
shower, Samuel and his daughter Mary went with us to Elizabeth 
Levis', where we were cordially welcomed by her and her daugh- 
ters, Sarah Pancoast, Caroline, Margaret, and Helena Levis. After 
tea, at the request of the young women, we held a parlor meeting 
with them and John and Sarah Hibberd, the former the son of 
Samuel. As I was led to open some of the teachings of Jesus so 
they could be applied to our every-day life, a sweet solemnity 
overspread us, and we closed and parted under the feeling that our 
visit had been blessed both socially and spiritually. 

28th. We attended the week-day meeting at Haverford this 
morning, and although it was small we felt that the Master was 
in our midst, baptizing us into a tender feeling and deepening our 
love for him. In the afternoon Samuel Hibberd and Mary Dick- 
inson went with us to Wayne, where a meeting had been appointed 
for the evening, taking us to the home of Rebecca Worrall and her 
children. The meeting in the evening was attended by between 
forty and fifty persons, and was thought to be a favored season. 

29th. William West came for us this morning and took us to 
his home, where his wife Rebecca and their daughter Sarah, wife 
of Charles Evans, gave us a kind welcome. In the afternoon 
William and Rebecca went with us to call on Sarah Walker and 
her daughter Ellen Ramsey, upon their daughter Anna Wilson, in 
Bridgeport, and upon Sarah Tyson and her son Edwin, taking us 
to their home for the night. 

30th. Joseph W. and Mary P Thomas took us this morning to 
call on Dr. Charles and Anna Frederick, on Susanna Roberts and 
her daughter Mary Emily Walker, and their friend Pauline Levis, 
upon Anna Mary Davis, daughter-in-law of the late Joseph Davis, 
and her daughter Ellen, and then to their home for dinner and rest. 
In the afternoon we called on Anna Walker and Hannah Hughes, 
returning to Joseph W. Thomas' for the night. At each of the 
places named we were cordially welcomed, and endeavored to leave 
a word of cheer. 



Travels in the Ministry 339 

31st. This morning opened bright and balmy, and as the meet- 
ing hour approached, in company with Joseph W. and Mary P. 
Thomas, we wended our way to the Valley meeting-house, enjoy- 
ing the beautiful scenery that greeted the outward eye, and in a 
quiet trust upon the Heavenly Guide. A large meeting for the 
place assembled. The message given was to portray the evi- 
dences of God's love, as evinced in the teaching of Jesus. At its 
conclusion a deep solemnity overspread us, under which the meet- 
ing closed. In the afternoon Joseph and Mary went with us to 
Radnor, where another large meeting for the place assembled, 
which also proved to be a satisfactory season. We returned to 
Joseph Thomas's for the night, after spending a little time 
pleasantly in the home of their son Charles and his wife Amy. 
The day had been full, but the heart rejoiced in the peaceful feel- 
ing which settled in it. 

Ninth month 1. Joseph and Mary Thomas took us this morn- 
ing, en route for Phcenixville, by way of the historic Valley Forge, 
stopping with us a few moments at Washington's headquarters. 
We then called on Bebecca Beam, on Sarah Supplee, her sister 
Mary Stephens, and her daughter Katie ; upon Anna Dunlap and 
her daughter Anna, and from there to the home of Sarah, Caro- 
line, and Margaret Pennypacker, to dine ; at each of these places 
we had a pleasant visit. After dinner Sarah Pennypacker took 
us to call on Sarah, wife of Everett Anderson, and their daughter 
Mary Brower, upon Caleb and Hetty Hallowell, and their daugh- 
ter Anna, and from there to Daniel and Emily Moore's, in Phoenix- 
ville. After taking tea with them we wended our way to the 
Women's Christian Temperance Union hall where a meeting had 
been appointed for the evening. About forty were present and 
very close attention was given to the message delivered. After 
the meeting we went home with Lavinia Shafer for the night. 

2d. Daniel Moore escorted us this morning to call first upon 
Dr. Joseph P. Eldridge and wife, and then upon Mary E. For- 
sythe, at both of which places we received a cordial welcome, 
although the latter is connected with the other branch of the So- 



34° Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

ciety. We went from there to call on Beulah, wife of Samuel 
Ingram, and their daughters Sarah and Lucy, and then to the home 
of Nellie Gilkyson, with whom, and her children, and our friend, 
Sarah Pennypacker, we had a most agreeable and and I believe 
profitable visit. In the afternoon Rebecca Gumbes came for us 
and took us to her home three miles east of Phoenixville, where 
we remained for the night, and in company with her husband 
Francis, and her mother Emma Mercer, we passed a very enjoy- 
able, and, I think, instructive visit. 

3d. We left the hospitable home of Francis and Rebecca 
Gumbes this morning for Philadelphia, and the home of our dear 
friends John L. and Emily T. Longstreth, and after dinner, after 
attending to some little necessary business matters, returned to 
remain the night with them. 

4th. We left Philadelphia this morning to go to Stroudsburg,. 
to rest, while our friends whom we purpose to visit were absent 
attending the conference at Asbury Park, to which we had not felt 
any special drawing, and we found in the home of C. Howard and 
Anna Palmer, a warm welcome and genial companionship. 

yth. Attended the meeting at Stroudsburg this morning ; some 
forty were present, and here I was again led to explain our basal 
principle of the inner light and its practical workings. I learned 
after meeting that several were present who had expressed their 
desire for such an explanation. In the evening, at the request of 
some of the guests at the Inn, we held another meeting in the 
capacious parlors, in which some of the practical lessons found in 
the teachings of Jesus were presented, and met from the mixed 
company gathered a warm and generous response. 

8th to 12th, inclusive. Nothing to note except the enjoyment 
of the quiet rest at Highland Inn until the afternoon of the 12th 
when Anna W. Palmer took us for a most enjoyable ride, on our 
way to the station stopping for a little visit at the home of A. 
Mitchell and Roberta D. Palmer We went then from Strouds- 
burg to Phillipsburg and were met at the station by Samuel 
Thomas and escorted to his home, where we found a cordial 



Travels in the Ministry 341 

welcome from him and his wife Fannie, and his sisters, Hannah 
Leedom and Elizabeth Knight, who were there on a visit. 

13th. We left Phillipsburg this morning in the company of 
Lizzie Trimmer, and went to Pittstown, where we were met by 
Howard E. Vail, son of the late Abram Vail, and taken to his home 
in Quakertown, N. J., where we were kindly received by him and 
his wife, Jennie. On our way here we made a call on Morris 
Hampton, an aged Friend, in his 80th year, and not able to get out 
much. His grandson, Dr. Leaver, and his wife, accorded us a 
pleasant welcome. 

24th. Attended the meeting at Quakertown this morning. 
There are but few members here now, but between fifty and sixty 
gathered and gave very close attention to the message given, which 
pertained to the needs of a true and right life rather than to much 
profession, and to the continuous care and watchfulness of the 
Heavenly Father over, us to assist in living such a life. After 
meeting we went home with John and Laura Trout, she a daughter 
of the late Abram Vail, and a much interested member. After 
resting and visiting in this family during the afternoon, we went 
to Pittstown, N. J., to attend a meeting which had been appointed 
for the evening. A still larger meeting than that of the morning 
assembled, many of them young people. I was led to portray the 
need of carefully studying our capabilities, and after learning what 
was right and when to avoid the evil, to seek Divine aid to enable 
them to do right. A sweet solemnity overspread the assembly 
under which we closed, and returned to John Trout's for the night 
with a peaceful and well satisfied mind in the fulfillment of the 
apprehended service. 

Ninth month 15. John Trout brought us to Frenchtown this 
morning en route for the vicinity of Middletown Monthly Meet- 
ing. We were met at Wilburtha by Mark P. Rich and his sister 
Susanna, and taken to their hospitable home in which we were 
welcomed by his wife Harriet, and her sister, Elizabeth. In the 
evening, nearly fifty of their neighbors gathered at their invi- 
tation, and we held a very satisfactory meeting with them. 



34 2 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

16th. Mark P. and Harriet Rich went with us this morning to 
call first on Albert and Ida Rowe, on William and Lillian Knight 
and family, upon Edward and Rebecca Pickering and their daugh- 
ters, Emily and Anna, William and Mary Newbold, and then 
on Abigail Marshall, returning to Mark's for dinner and rest. In 
the afternoon we called on Mary, wife of Edward Briggs, and 
their daughter Carrie, and then at the door, at John Rich's, his 
son Joseph and wife Mary, and daughter Edith, coming to the 
carriage for a moment's talk ; then we called on Caroline Walton 
and went to Amos and Elizabeth S. Satterthwaite's for the night. 
In the evening between fifteen and twenty of the neighbors gath- 
ered, and we had another interesting and satisfactory parlor 
meeting. In each of the places visited we received a very cordial 
welcome, and retired for our rest with peaceful feelings and a 
consciousness that the day had been well spent. 

iyth. Amos and Elizabeth Satterthwaite went with us to-day, 
and we called first on their daughter-in-law Mary, and then at the 
door of their daughter Mary Taylor ; we next called on Tacy, wife 
of Nathan White, upon Catharine Paxson and her daughter Anna, 
and upon our near and dear friend, Margaretta Walton, at the 
George School, returning with Amos and Elizabeth to their home 
for dinner and our mid-day rest. In the afternoon they took us 
to call on Franklin and Louisa Osmond and their daughter 
Marian, and then upon David and Tacy Simpson and their daugh- 
ter Anna, where we stayed to tea and spent part of the evening, 
and then went to Joseph J. and Anna M. Watson's for the night. 

18th. We attended the regular week-day meeting at Langhorne 
this morning; about fifty were in attendance. It proved to be a 
tendering and baptizing season, as the messsage given tended to 
reach the individual daily life in aiding each other in bearing life's 
burden in the home, in the social mingling, and in the work of the 
Society, closing under a solemn supplication. We returned to 
Joseph J. Watson's for dinner. In the afternoon we called first 
upon Sally Allen, one of those unable to get out to meeting ; we 
next called on Mitchell Watson, another of the " shut-ins," who 



Travels in the Ministry 343 

with his wife Ella gave us a cordial reception, then on Sarah K. 
Paxson, who is now near 90 years of age, and her granddaughter, 
Sarah Allen ; we also found Anna Knight there, and had a very 
pleasant visit. We then went to see Elizabeth and Sara Burgess, 
and Elizabeth's care-taker, Rachel Cooper. We then called on our 
old-time friend, Sarah Ann Wildman, whom we found very 
cheery. She had been out at meeting in the morning in her wheel 
chair. We next called on Edward Richardson and his sister Mary 
and remained to tea, and then went to Allen and Ada Mitchell's, 
where a good-sized parlor meeting was held, which seemed to be 
much appreciated by those present. 

ipth. Joseph and Anna Watson went with us this morning to 
call on J. Randall and Mary Hibbs and their daughter Emma, on 
Joseph Richardson and his daughter Mary and Margaret Row- 
land ; on Elizabeth N. Taylor, mother of our dear friend, Thomas 
N. Taylor, of Baltimore, and then to Robert and Mary Ivins' to 
dine with them and their daughter, Margaret Gatchell. After 
dinner Joseph and Anna Watson took us to call on William and 
Elizabeth Thompson and their daughter, May Anna, and son, 
Frederick ; on William and Florence Mitchell and their daughters, 
Hannah and Clara, and from there to George Rowe's, son of 
Washington Rowe, and their families, including Elizabeth Wild- 
man, an aged friend, and from there to the home of Elizabeth 
D. Taylor, her daughter May Buyes and her husband, Andrew, 
and their family, where we had a satisfactory parlor meeting and 
remained for the night. 

20th. We remained at Elizabeth D. Taylor's during the fore- 
noon, and in the afternoon she went with us to call on Margery 
Canby and her son Joseph and family, and we found Sarah R. 
Paxson there. After a pleasant visit with them she took us to 
Edwin Palmer's to tea, and then called on Gove and Anna Mit- 
chell, and then on Elizabeth Taylor, where we met our friend 
Thomas N. Taylor and his wife Florence, from Baltimore, also his 
brother William and wife, and had a very enjoyable visit. 



344 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

21st. This morning we went to the meeting at Langhorne, 
which was largely attended ; the message given was an exposition 
of Friends' view of the inner light, and the results of obedience 
to it. A precious solemnity overspread the meeting, during which 
our dear friend Lydia H. Price, who was present, gave expression 
to her thankfulness for the opportunity, and we closed the meet- 
ing with the feeling that we had been blessed together. After 
meeting we went home with Allen and Ada Mitchell, and with 
them to Mary Bunting's to dine, and then Joseph J. and Anna 
Watson took us to Bristol, where a meeting had been appointed 
for the afternoon. This was largely attended for this place, and 
was felt to be a tendering season. After meeting we went home 
with Louisa, Susan, and Abby Iredell, and passed a very pleasant 
evening in company with them and several others who came in. 

2 2d. We called this morning on Joseph Pierce and his daugh- 
ter Mary Bardsley, Walter and Charlotte Leedom, Anna Stradling 
and her daughter-in-law Ida, Esther Minster, Rebecca Warner, 
Ellen Warner, and Anna and Mary Cabeen. After dinner Lydia 
Tyson came for us and took us to her home, with Isaac and Mary 
Ann Tyson, her father and mother, to tea, after which Isaac 
Tyson took us to call on Joseph Van Zant and wife, and then to 
Iredell's for the night. 

2jd. Went to see Edwin Burton and wife Margaret this morn- 
ing. She had been an invalid for years. Then on Elizabeth and 
Catharine Laing. After dinner called on Benjamin and Abby 
Lovett, William and Bessie Laing, Paxson Stradling and wife, 
Anna B. Renyon and daughter Anna, where we remained to tea, 
and back to Iredell's for the night. 

24th. Called on Elma Wildman this morning and in the after- 
noon came to Torresdale, where John Wood met us and took us 
to his home, where we were kindly welcomed by his son Franklin 
P., and his wife, Mary. In evening called on Charles and Eliza- 
beth Parry, Martha Lynfesty and daughter, Anna N. Richardson, 
and Mary came for us and took us to their home for the night. 



Travels in the Ministry 345 

25th. At Byberry Preparative Meeting this morning and dined 
at Nathaniel Richardson's. In the afternoon called on Eldridge 
and Mary Tomlinson, Edward and Samuel Comly and Sarah 
Haviland, Joseph Knight and daughters Sarah and Rachel, where 
we had a parlor meeting in the evening, and went home with 
Francis and Ellen Tomlinson for the night. 

26th. A very rainy day. Stayed most of the forenoon at 
Francis Tomlinson's, saw Watson Tomlinson a little while, called 
on Thomas and Phebe Simms before dinner. In afternoon went to 
Isaac and Hannah Tomlinson's at Bustleton and had a small par- 
lor meeting in the evening. 

27th. Called this morning on Elizabeth and Esther Comly, 
and in the afternoon on Henry Busby and daughters, Mary W. 
and Virginia, Mary, an invalid ; Martha Warding and Anna E. 
Headley, John B. and Jane Kirkbride, Mary Roberts and Mary 
W. Jenkins, and stayed the night at Isaac Tomlinson's. 

28th. A large meeting gathered at Byberry this morning, 
which was an impressive and satisfactory season. After meeting 
called on Charles and Ida Edgerton and then home with James 
and Rebecca Bonner. After tea we called on Watson and Susan 
Martindale and then went to Jesse and Sarah James' for the night 
and held a good-sized and deeply impressive parlor meeting in the 
evening. 

29th. Went to Elmer and Rebecca Carter's and their daughter 
Arabella for the day, and returned to Jesse James' for the night. 

30th, At Byberry Monthly Meeting to-day and went home 
with Jesse James after meeting. In the afternoon went to 
Joseph Knight's at Somerton and had a largely attended and satis- 
factory meeting in the Methodist church at that place. 

Tenth month 1. As we had now closed our visiting for the 
year we returned to Baltimore to-day, bringing with us our 
sheaves of peace for duty performed. In the course of our service 
this year we have attended 87 meetings, visited 741 families and 
traveled 1,298 miles in carriages and 4,146 miles by railroad. We 
are deeply thankful to our Heavenly Father that we have been 



346 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

preserved in health and kept free from accident in so long a 
journey, and to the many friends we visited for their uniformly 
kindly welcome. 

At the time of Baltimore Monthly Meeting, held in Tenth 
month, 1902, we returned the minute granted us eleven months 
previously and informed our friends that the work was not yet 
completed and asked that the minute be renewed and extended 
until the service was completed. This was cordially done after 
much expression of sympathy and satisfaction with the work 
accomplished, and in the Eleventh month the minute was endorsed 
by the Quarterly Meeting. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Travels in the Ministry. — Continued. 

THE WORK OF I903. 

After being about home during the winter and getting settled 
in our new quarters in the apartment house on the 8th of Fourth 
month, we left Baltimore for Swarthmore to take up again our 
unfinished work within the limits of Philadelphia Yearly Meet- 
ing. It rained heavily all day. We were met at the railroad sta- 
tion by Edward Darnell and taken to the hospitable home of 
Lydia H. Hall. In the evening Charles Paxson, who with his 
wife Alice, a daughter of Lydia, and who live in one part of the 
same house, escorted us to see Susan Cunningham, and then to 
call on Professor Arthur Beardsley, who is nearly blind. Our 
visits to these friends were very pleasant and seemed to be appre- 
ciated. 

Fourth month p. About 12 o'clock Anna Speakman came for 
us and escorted us to the home of Jesse and Reba Holmes to 
dinner. In the afternoon Ferris Price came and took us to his 
home, where we were kindly greeted by his wife Rebecca and 
their children. After tea we called first on Professor Hoadley 
and wife Mary, and then went to Dr. David and Mary Mitchell 
Green's, and returned to Lydia Hall's with the feeling that the 
day had been well spent. 

10th. E. Darnell came for us this morning and took us first 
to Mary Wood's, and then for a ride to see the old Springfield 
meeting-house, in which occurred the discussion whether Benja- 
min West should be allowed to paint pictures, then to Dr. Wil- 
liam and Anna Speakman's for dinner. In the afternoon he 
came for us and took us to call on Anna Daniel, then on Mary 



348 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Craig, and to Henry and Patience Kent's for tea. After tea 
we went to Mary Kent's, where we held a parlor meeting to 
much comfort and satisfaction, then returned to Lydia H. Hall's 
for the night. 

nth. E. Darnell again came for us and took us to call on 
Eugene Pratt and wife ; then to William W. Kent's, where we 
met Clayton Walton and wife ; then to W. G. and Mary Taylor's 
to dine. After dinner called on Sarah Farley ; and went to 
Edward and Sidney Darnell's to tea, with them and their five 
children, returning to Lydia Hall's for the night. 

I2th, First day morning attended the meeting at Swarthmore 
and went home with David and Phebe Jenkins to dine. In the 
afternoon Sylvester Garrett sent his carriage and took us to 
call on Carrie Hall, widow of William, and then on Dr. Frank and 
Anna Bassett and their aunt, E. Haines, and to S. Garrett's to 
tea. Had a parlor meeting there in the evening, about thirty 
present, and a very satisfactory time. 

13th. Went to the college this morning and had an interesting 
visit with E. Powell Bond until lunch time and then a number of 
the students and employees met us in E. Bond's room. Then went 
to Richard and Elizabeth Ogden's, to William I. and Hannah 
C. Hull's to tea and to S. Garrett's to a woman's suffrage 
meeting. The day has been full of enjoyment and satisfaction 
to us. 

14th. A heavy rain has been falling all day. Ferris Price came 
and escorted us to Professor and Hettie Appleton's, and then to 
Rachel and Anna Hillborn's, meeting Henry Gawthrop and 
wife there. In the afternoon E. Darnell came and took us to 
Arthur Tomlinson's preparatory school, where we had a parlor 
meeting, which appeared to be much enjoyed by the students 
who were present, after which we called on Anna Atkinson Sellers 
and Bertha, returning in a heavy rain to Lydia H. Hall's for the 
night. 

15th. E. Darnell came for us and took us to call on Samuel 
Ash and family, and then on Ella Garwood and from there to 



Travels in the Ministry 349 

Alice Hadley's to dine. After dinner we went to the station and 
called on Ellis Yarnall and wife, and then took the train for 
Philadelphia, and were soon in the home of our kind friends, 
John L. and Emily T. Longstreth. In the evening attended the 
monthly meeting at Fifteenth and Race streets, in which meeting 
a committee was appointed to act in conjunction with a like com- 
mittee from Green Street Monthly Meeting in arranging for our 
visits among the Friends of those monthly meetings in the city. 
We saw the first apple blossoms of the season to-day. 

16th. We came back to Baltimore to-day to attend the marriage 
of Howard Cooper Johnson and Edith, daughter of George M. 
and Anna R. Lamb, a very nice wedding, which we much enjoyed. 

iyth. We returned to Philadelphia this afternoon to resume 
our work there in the morning. 

18th. We went to the Mint this morning and enjoyed the sights 
to be witnessed there. In the afternoon attended a meeting of 
the committees of Race and Green Street Meetings to arrange for 
our work in Philadelphia, after which Rowland Comly came and 
took us to his home, after giving us a nice ride through the park 
on our way thither. Cyrus Chambers and family came in the 
evening and we enjoyed our meeting again with these dear friends. 

ipth. Rowland Comly took us to the meeting at West Phil- 
adelphia this morning. House nearly full and it was felt to 
be a very satisfactory meeting. Went home with Hugh and 
Mary Mcllvain, where a number of Friends came in the after- 
noon to greet us, and all seemed to enjoy the meeting. 
In the evening we attended the meeting at Fifteenth and Race 
streets. This was also a large meeting, and as in the morning I 
was largely led in testimony and much satisfaction was expressed 
in both meetings. One woman, after the morning meeting, came 
and said, " I want to thank thee for making things so plain that 
my little boy could understand thee." 

20th. Anna Hillborn came for us this morning and escorted us 
to see Abi and Martha James, Rachel Willets and sister, and in 
the afternoon Hannah Pettit went with us to see Blanche and 



350 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Mary Early, and in the evening John L. Longstreth went with us 
to call on Charles M. Betts and family and Thomas Griest and 
family. We were cordially welcomed at each place and the visit 
to Charles M. Betts was peculiarly satisfactory. 

21st. Anna Hillborn again came for us and took us to see Anna 
Paxson, Anna Parker and Elizabeth Clendenin, Elizabeth Sat- 
terthwaite, Mary Stratton, John and Rebecca Otto. In the after- 
noon we went to Francis and Margaret Pennock's, where we held 
a meeting and then to see Ann Tyler and niece. In the evening 
I delivered an address at Fifteenth and Race streets on the " Ad- 
vantages of Becoming and Being a Friend," prepared at the re- 
quest of a Committee on Membership of Philadelphia Monthly 
Meeting, then to Longstreth's for the night. 

22d. Attended the week-day meeting at Race Street with the 
school this morning and then went with Naomi Walters to call on 
Mary Keeny, Susan W. Jones, William and Mary J. Keeny, Eliza- 
beth and Hannah Bunting and Anna Clothier and to her home with 
Emma Walters to dine. After dinner we called on Emma R. 
Janney and daughter Mary Anna, then on Catharine Jacobs, a 
paralytic, then on Hannah Leedom and Clara L. Beers, and then 
to Alban and Sarah A. W\ Eavenson's to tea, where we also had 
a parlor meeting in the evening. The meeting was well attended 
and proved a baptizing and satisfactory season. The visits during 
the day were interesting and we felt some good had been done. 

23d. Went this morning to see Martha, Phebe, Mary and 
Rebecca Hough. After dinner J. L. Longstreth went with us to 
Nathaniel Janney's in West Philadelphia, and Anna Janney then 
went with us to see Drusilla Thomas, where Phebe Coleman and 
Hannah Comly met us, and then to Mary Francis Paschall's, where 
we met Elizabeth Henderson and called on Elizabeth Wells and 
Abigail White. Took tea at N. Janney's, then called on Emma 
Armitage, where we met William and Mary Borton. 

24th. Anna Hillborn came for us this morning and went with 
us to Sarah Walker's and her daughter Deborah Marshall's, Sid- 
ney Walton and his sister, Rebecca Stradling, and then called on 



Travels in the Ministry 351 

Edith Lukens, now in her 94th year and doing the housework for 
herself and son in a two-story house without other help. In the 
afternoon J. L. Longstreth went with us to call on Rebecca T. 
Elliott and her daughter Mary J., and in the evening on Thomas 
Supplee and his daughter Lydia. All of these visits were inter- 
esting and satisfactory. 

25th. Rested this morning and went to do a little necessary 
shopping. In the afternoon Isaac H and Anna Hillborn came for 
us and took us for a ride through the park. In the evening we 
called on cousin A. Jennie Cornell and Sarah Pennypacker at their 
home. 

26th. Attended the meeting at Germantown this morning, 
large and satisfactory. Dined with Charles F. Jenkins. Came 
to Fair Hill in the afternoon. House nearly full and was another 
very pleasant and satisfactory season. Went home with Milton 
and Caroline Jackson, and son, Arthur C. 

27th. Called this morning on Henry Jones and Rachel Cleaver, 
Lukens and Elizabeth Webster, Philena Salter and daughter Con- 
stantia and Caroline Roberts. In the afternoon took a beautiful 
ride and called on Amelia Amly and Sarah Vandegrift, and had 
a parlor meeting at Milton Jackson's in the evening. 

28th. Attended the week-day meeting at Girard Avenue this 
morning and spoke to the children. After calling on Anna 
Levick a little while, spent the afternoon at Milton Jackson's, 
quietly resting. 

29th. Came to Germantown this morning and attended the 
meeting at which the children from the school were present. After 
meeting went to the Friends' Home with Margaret Howard. 
Dined and spent the afternoon there and had an interesting parlor 
meeting in the evening, then went home with Charles F. Jenkins 
for the night, meeting there with John Wilhelm Rountree and 
Malcolm Nash from England. 

30th. Mary Temple came for us and took us to call on James 
and Victoria Chandler, Frank and Ellen Chambers, then on a 
daughter-in-law of John Hunt the minister, and on Florence Pax- 



35 2 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

son and her mother, returning to C. F. Jenkins' to dine. In the 
afternoon we called on Ellen Bentley and her son George. David 
and Sarah Pancoast and family, Mary Biddle, Elizabeth Con- 
row, Anna Rouillot, Wilmer and Elma Middleton, Lucy Croas- 
dale and sisters were there. Returned to C. F. Jenkins' for the 
night. 

Fifth month I. Margaret Howard went with us this morning 
to call on Amelia Buckman and husband, Joseph Livezey and 
family, John Livezey and Sallie Firth and Emma Marsden. In 
the afternoon Jane Graham went with us to call on Samuel and 
Rachel Ifill, Eliza Taylor, Mary C. Evans and Walter Holloway, 
Eleanor Janney, Eliza Needles and then to Samuel and Mary 
Longstreth's for the night. 

2d. Mary Biddle came with James Ifill and took us to call on 
E. Job Cocks, Hannah Ann Linn and daughters, Hannah T. 
Lewis, Hannah and Catharine Clayton, and then to Longstreth's 
to dine. In the afternoon George D. Cock came with James Ifill 
and took us to Humphreys Garrigues, Elizabeth Scattergood's and 
Mary Shoemaker's and called at the door to see Samuel and 
Rachel Ifill and then to Luke and Jesse Newport Finkles' for the 
night. In the evening S. and R. Ifill and Elizabeth and Martha 
Newport came in and we had an interesting visit with them. 

3d. First day morning. Samuel and Rachel Ifill came for us 
and took us to Girard Avenue to attend the meeting there, which 
was largely attended. Isaac Hillborn was present and opened the 
vocal service by alluding to the fact that it was the twenty-fifth 
anniversary of the opening of that meeting. I followed with an 
extended communication, which was well received and I believe 
the general feeling was that we had had a good meeting. Went 
home with J. Leedom and Sally Worrall and their daughter Eliza. 
In the afternoon we had an appointed meeting at rjrankford, which 
also was well attended, many of the other branch of Friends being 
present. The meeting closed under a deep solemnity. After 
meeting went home with Frank and Hannah Pettit, and in the 
evening attended the meeting at Green Street, which also proved 



Travels in the Ministry 353 

a baptizing and satisfactory season. Went home with Sarah and 
Anna Griscom for the night. 

4th. Harrison Streeter came for us this morning and took us to 
see Martha Pugh, Ella Jones and Mary Saunders, and then to his 
home to dine. In the afternoon attended the Quarterly Meeting 
of Ministers and Elders, in which I had some close service. After 
meeting we went home with Sarah and Anna Griscom. In the 
evening Howard and Linda Wilson and their mother called and 
we spent a pleasant evening together. 

5th. Attended Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting to-day After 
meeting went home with Harrison Streeter for the night. In the 
evening Sarah Griscom came and went with us to see Jennie 
Lovett and her two sons and daughter and nephew, William 
Gaskell. 

6th. Hannah Pettit came for us and took us to call on Rachel 
Jones, Anna Reese and Deborah Wood, Susanna Chambers, Ma- 
tilda Lobbs, Mary Smith and Anna Cerna, where we dined. In 
the afternoon Sarah Worrall went with us to call on Henrietta 
Hall and her daughter Anna, then on Hannah Gillingham, Barton 
and May Roberts and then to J. Leedom Worrall's for the night. 
A number of Friends came in for the evening to meet with us 
and we had a very enjoyable social time. 

yth. Sarah Worrall went with us to call on Sarah Jane Rush 
in the morning, and in the afternoon on Sarah Ann Roberts, who 
had recently lost her only son, where we left some words of cheer 
and comfort, and then went to Aquilla and Sarah T. Linvill's for 
the night. 

8th. Anna Emlee went with us this morning to call on Mary 
Walters and then to Lydia Cleaver's and Martha Davis' to dine. 
After dinner we called on Sarah Brown and her sister AnnaHance 
Ivins, Dr. Betts and family, Lida Makinson and then to William 
Emlen's to tea, where we met his son Joseph, wife and son Frank. 

pth. Attended the Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders to- 
day. In the evening went with John L. and Emily T. Longstreth 

23 



354 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

to Mary Parry's to tea where we met Sarah Knight and Elizabeth 
Bonner from Byberry. 

ioth. First day. Attended the meeting at Race Street this 
morning, where I was largely led upon the subject " What Do 
Friends Believe?" The meeting was very large and with some 
little exception satisfactory. Some things were said by others be- 
side myself which called out an unpleasant response, but as I was 
led to close the service in supplication the meeting ended under 
a sweet solemnity. We dined to-day at J. Longstreth's and went 
to Anna Levick's to tea, and in the evening attended the meeting 
at Girard Avenue, which was felt to be a favored occasion. 

nth. Attended the devotional meeting this morning prior to 
the opening of the Yearly Meeting — a satisfactory season. At the 
Yearly Meeting during the day. In the evening went to the meet- 
ing-house to hear Henry W. Wilbur's address on the revival of 
Quakerism. I was not much edified with the address. It seemed 
to me to contain too much fault-finding and not enough reference 
to the consecrated spirituality, which only can revive and build up 
a true Quakerism. 

12th. At the Yearly Meeting all the day. Went home with 
Edmund and Emma L. Webster to tea and had a pleasant even- 
ing's visit. 

13th. Attended the devotional meeting this morning, then took 
the train for Kennett Square to attend the funeral of William Mar- 
tin, which was an impressive season. Returned to Philadelphia 
after the funeral. 

14th. At meeting at Race Street this morning, at which there 
were several testimonies harmonizing pretty well as a whole. 
Went home with Hannah Woodnutt to dine. In the afternoon 
went into the women's meeting with a message, in which a num- 
ber of states were spoken to and which brought a deep and sweet 
solemnity over the meeting. After meeting went home v/ith 
Henrietta Walters to tea and then to our lodgings at J. Long- 
streth's for the night. 



Travels in the Ministry 355 

15th. Attended the devotional meeting this morning and the 
two sessions of the Yearly Meeting during the day. After the 
afternoon meeting we went home with Elizabeth Webb and 
Cassie Carr and their sister Emma Price. We enjoyed this visit 
very much. This closed the work of the Yearly Meeting. 

16th. Rested at J. L. Longstreth's this morning. In the after- 
noon went to Norristown. George Wood met us and took us to 
his home to see his wife, who had been very ill all through the 
Yearly Meeting but was better. After leaving a word of encour- 
agement we went to Susan Y. Foulke's. In the evening we went 
to the Friends' Home, where a large parlor meeting was held, 
which elicited many expressions of satisfaction from those present. 

iyth. First day morning. At meeting at Norristown, which 
was largely attended, and was felt to be a very satisfactory season. 
After meeting we went home with Charles and Estelle Major and 
son Percy. About 4 p. m. we went to William and Mary 
Marillafs and Jane Forman's to tea, had a nice visit and returned 
to Susan Foulke's for the night. 

18th. Came to Philadelphia this morning, dined at J. L. Long- 
streth's. At 3.30 p. m. Flugh Mcllvain came for us and took us 
to see Clara Fairlamb and Adeline Fairlamb, then to John Sellers, 
Jr., and family, and to his home for the night. 

ipth. We called for Matilda Janney this morning, at her daugh- 
ter's, Mary Janney Paxson, to go with us for the day. Then 
went to see George L. Lange and family, then went to the home 
of Elizabeth Levis, saw Samuel Ogden, Hannah Bunting and 
Deborah Bartram, called on Martha Mcllvaine Eastwick and 
then to Hugh Mcllvain's to dinner. In the afternoon Hugh took 
us to Lansdowne, called on Anna Shoemaker and her daughter- 
in-law Lucretia, a sister of Hugh, and then went to Anna Bunt- 
ing's. In the evening a number of friends came to Hugh's to 
meet us and we had a very pleasant and satisfactory visit. 

20th. Went this morning to call on Edward Cooper and wife 
and George L. Mitchell, when Anna Jenkins Hallowell came in to 
meet us, and then on Edwin Scarlet, who we found was quite an 



356 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

invalid. In the afternoon called on Samuel and Ann Jones and 
after tea went to the monthly meeting at Race Street, and after 
meeting went home with Nathaniel and Anna Janney for the 
night. 

21st. Anna Janney went with us this morning to call on 
Rebecca Young, Anna Gaunt and daughter Elizabeth and Mary 
Paxson and daughter-in-law. In the afternoon called on Hannah 
J. Jenkins, where we met Margaret Pyle, then on Dr. Samuel and 
Theodosia Hennessey, and in the evening on Sarah Wickersham 
and her daughter Mary. 

22d. We went this morning and called on Rebecca Harrop and 
Sarah De Cou and then remained at Nathaniel Janney's until 
evening when we went to our friend, J. L. Longstretch's for the 
night. 

23d. Rested at Longstreth's until afternoon, then went to 
Trenton, where Dr. Laura Satterthwaite met us and took us to her 
home with her father Benjamin in the country. Her brothers, John 
and Linton, Henry and Rachel File and May Boone also came 
to tea and all gave us a cordial welcome, which we keenly appre- 
ciated. 

24th. First day. Attended the meeting at Trenton this morn- 
ing. A large and satisfactory meeting. Went home with Ed- 
mund and Letitia Willetts. In the afternoon we called on Albert 
Mahan and wife, she quite ill and much prostrated by the death of 
her son, killed in the railroad accident at Plainfield a short time 
since. Left a word of comfort and encouragement, then called on 
Seth Ely and family. Had an appointed meeting in the evening, 
which was well attended for a lowery day, and judging from many 
expressions was a satisfactory season. Stayed the night at E. 
Willetts'. 

25th. Henry and Rachel Fell took us with them to Crosswicks 
this morning to attend Burlington Quarterly Meeting of Ministers 
and Elders. Dined at Friend Bricks', returned to Trenton in the 
afternoon and attended the meeting of the Young Friends' Asso- 
ciation in the evening. Stayed at night at H. R. Fell's. 



Travels in the Ministry 357 

26th. Left Trenton this morning for Philadelphia and then 
took train for Easton, Maryland, where Robert B. Dixon's team 
met us and were soon in his hospitable home receiving warm 
greetings from him and his wife Amanda, their son James and 
daughter Florence. 

27th. Attended the Southern Quarterly Meeting to-day. The 
Meeting of Ministers and Elders preceding the regular Quarterly 
Meeting. Went home with R. B. Dixon. Several friends came 
to dine. In the evening we went to William and Sally Kemp's to 
tea and then attended the meeting of the Young Friends' Asso- 
ciation. 

28th. Attended the closing meeting of the Quarterly Meeting 
to-day. After meeting went to Wilson and Elizabeth Tyler's and 
then called on Joseph Muller and Friend Speakman and back to 
Dixon's for the night. 

29th, Robert and Amanda Dixon went with us to call on 
Joseph White and his daughters, Lottie and Anna ; John and 
Anna Barber and their granddaughter, Laura Shinn ; then to 
Dr. Isaac A. Barber's to dine. In the afternoon visited Robert 
and Anna Kemp, and in the evening had a meeting in the town 
hall at Easton. 

^oth. Robert and Amanda Dixon took us this morning to call 
on Lydia Warner, matron of the Old Woman's Home, then Robert 
went with us to visit John and Elma Wilson, Henry and Helen 
Shreve, then to his home for dinner. After resting in the after- 
noon we took the train for Preston, where the Northwest Fork 
Meeting is held, and where we were cordially welcomed in the 
old home of William Kelly by Julia S., his widow, and sons 
William, Lincoln and Jonah and daughters Dollie and Julielma M. 

31st. First day morning. Held a meeting this morning in 
Academy Hall and another in the evening, the Methodists, who 
were occupying the hall while repairing their meeting-house, 
giving way. Both meetings were large and appeared to be very 
satisfactory. The minister and his members were present and ex- 
pressed their satisfaction in a warm and kind manner. 



358 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Sixth month i. Lincoln and Julielma Kelly went with us first 
to Isaac Poole's and then to Martha Willis' and her children, and 
then back to Kelly's to await the train time to return to Easton. 

2d. Returned to Baltimore to-day to attend our own Quarterly 
Meeting at Sandy Spring and for a little rest prior to resuming 
our work within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. 

20th. We left Baltimore to-day for Woodstown to resume our 
labors. We found our friend, Joel Borton on the train from Phila- 
delphia, and his wife Mary, met us at the station, and took us to 
Charles and Anna Pancoast's for the night. In the evening a 
number of friends came in to welcome us and we enjoyed the even- 
ing very much. 

21st. First day. We attended the meeting at Woodstown this 
morning, which was a large and very attentive and satisfactory 
one. Went to Edwin and Emily Borton's to dine. After resting 
Joel Borton took us over to Mullica Hill to Henry and Rachel 
Lippincott's, and we held another large meeting there in the even- 
ing. All night at H. Lippincott's. 

22d. George and Mary Tonkin went with us this morning 
to call on Joseph and Anna Gardner, Alfred and Anna French, 
Jacob and Anna Ridgway, Charles and Elizabeth Kirby and then 
to Hope L. Moore's to dinner, her son and wife coming in to dine 
with us. After dinner called on Asa Lippincott and family, 
Edwin and Anna Kirby, Aaron and Susan Borton, and then to 
Thomas Borton's, where we held a parlor meeting and remained 
over night. 

23d. Thomas Borton went with us this morning to visit Emma 
Groff, Mercy Reeves (aged 86), Emily GrofT, Mary and Martha 
Lippincott, Joseph and Hannah Chapman, John and Anna Ire- 
dell, Rebecca Moore, Rachel Horner, Beulah and Hannah Pan- 
coast, and in the afternoon Benjamin and Elizabeth Pancoast, 
Warren Atkinson and family (his wife a Catholic), a very nicely 
behaved family of children, John and Anna Gaunt, Ira and Susan 
Coles, Charles and Deborah Coles, William and Mary Iredell, 



Travels in the Ministry 359 

Millard and Amanda Parker, Priscilla Hazelton and Lydia Dent, 
and to Joel Borton's for the night. 

24th. John and Alice Borton took us this morning to visit 
Frank and Sally Edwards, Frank and Belle Kirby, Maxwell Busby 
and wife, his father, Frank, and sister, wife of George Hemer, 
Samuel Ridgway and family were here. In the afternoon we vis- 
isted Christie Edwards, Frank and Lillie White, Linwood and 
Florence Borton, Alfred Borton, Frank Horner, Amos Peterson, 
George Kirby, Charles Bishop and wife, and had a parlor meeting 
at Isaac Ballinger's in the evening and went home with Lydia 
Davis and family for the night. 

25th. This morning called on Barclay Edwards, Reuben and 
Abby Woolman, Joshua Moore's wife, on Miss Peterson and Anna 
Lippincott, Joseph and Lizzie Borton. This afternoon attended 
the funeral of William Pancoast, then went home with S. Shipley 
and Elizabeth Flitcraft to tea and for the night. In the evening 
attended the Young Friends' Association and listened to a beauti- 
ful recitation of the " Lost Word," by Helen Borton. 

26th. Went to Salem this morning where William T. Hilliard 
met us and took us to Alloway's Creek to Jeremiah and Louisa 
Powell's, and Louisa found a way to get us to Mark Dare's, at 
Greenwich, his wife Mary, and daughter Margaretta Pisch. In 
the afternoon Mary went with us to call on his sister, Prudence 
Butler, then on Sarah Young, Rebecca Stewart and Mary Offley, 
and we had a satisfactory parlor meeting at Mark's in the evening. 

27th. Mark R. Dare brought us to Hancock's Bridge this 
morning and left us at Jeremiah Powell's. In the afternoon 
Louisa Powell went with us to call on Anna Smith, Thomas 
Sherrod's family, then to John Ridgway's to tea. After tea called 
on Sarah Foggs' family, sister of Louisa Powell, then to Powell's 
for the night. 

28th. At meeting at Hancock's Bridge this morning. Went 
home with Waddington Ridgway after meeting, when Franklin 
Bradway and his daughter met us. After dinner called on Mar- 
garet Ridgway, then to Powell's, where William T. Hilliard came 



360 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

to take us to Salem. Had a very large and satisfactory meeting 
in the evening. 

29th. Came to Woodstown again this morning and went to 
Joel Borton's. In the afternoon took tea with Charles and Sally 
Peterson, then called on Chalkley and Laura Haines and Aaron 
and Ella Coles, and to Joel's for the night. 

30th. Came to Mullica Hill with Joel and Mary to attend Piles- 
grove Monthly Meeting this morning. Dined at David and Lydia 
Borton's, then went to William and Margaret Colson's, Samuel 
and Lizzie Borton's, Parker and Hattie Steward's, Samuel and 
Mary Iredell's. Susan Kay came in, then to see Elizabeth 
Ann Kay and then to Rebecca Gardner's for the night, after having 
a meeting in the meeting-house in the evening, which appeared to 
be very satisfactory to those who were present. 

Seventh month 1. Called on Howard and Hannah Avis, Jose- 
phine Howie and her daughter Emma Ridgway, Thomas and 
Anna Morris, Emmett and May Jones, Warren and Hannah 
Davidson, and then to George and Mary Tonkins to dinner, where 
Clark and Beulah Gardner met us. In the afternoon called 
on Borton Summers and family, Stacy Hazleton, and Asa and 
Mirable Coles and Asa Lippincott and family to tea, and then went 
to Susan Smith's, at Swedesboro, for the night and where we 
had a large and very satisfactory parlor meeting in which there 
were many inquiring minds to whom I was led to explain our 
principles and which elicited much expression of satisfaction at its 
close. 

2d. Called this morning on Nathan Lippincott's family, his 
mother, Priscilla, an aged friend, and then came to Woodstown, 
dined at Charles Pancoast's and in the afternoon called on Han- 
nah Smith, the Colson family and James and Elizabeth Pettit. 
In the evening quite a large gathering assembled at the meeting- 
house, to which I read my paper on "The Advantages of Becoming 
and Being a Friend." The paper was well received, though some 
objections were made by the Presbyterian minister, as I under- 
stand, he spoke so low I could not hear him, but I was told it was 



Travels in the Ministry 361 

mainly in regard to the Scriptures, on which he thought I did not 
lay quite enough stress. 

3d. Called this morning on Dr. and Izette Allen, Amos and 
Hannah Peterson, Clemetine and Mary Ann Barrrett, Clark and 
Anna Flitcraft, Charles and Sally Horner. In the afternoon called 
on Minnie Wilkinson, Margaret Allen, Gilbert and Margaret Bor- 
ton, and went to John and Alice Borton's to tea. While here a 
very heavy thunder storm occurred, but passed over in time for us 
to return to Woodstown for the night. 

4th. Rained this mornings but at 10.30 we went to Charles and 
Sarah Warner's to dine. In the afternoon went to the meeting- 
house to hear Ella Boole speak, but before she finished had to leave 
to take the train for Mickleton, where John Heritage met us and 
took us to his home. We were cordially welcomed by his wife, 
Hannah Ann, and their sons, Benjamin and Omar. 

5/A. John and Hannah Heritage went with us to Woodbury 
to meeting, and after meeting we went home with Sarah Knight, 
her son Charles and daughter Emma. In the afternoon called on 
Edward and Hannah Clements and then stopped on our way to 
Mickleton to visit with Joseph and Elma Livezey. We had an 
appointed meeting at Mickleton, which was very largely attended 
by many young people, and was a deeply baptizing season and 
seemed to be much enjoyed by this younger element. 

6th. We called this morning on Sarah Clement and family, 
John and Martha Haines and Fanny Keen, their daughter, and on 
George and Martha Tyler. After dinner we called on Jacob 
Shuster and sister, Virgie Eachus, Fanny and Emma Gaunt, 
Lewis Owens, and mother, Rebecca ; Isaac T. and Clara Haines, 
Frank and Clara Dunham and Isaac and Elizabeth Haines, re- 
turning to Heritage's for the night. 

yth. Albert Heritage came for us this morning and took us 
to call on Ellwood Manakins, Richard and Martha Palen, Walter 
and Susan Heritage, Theodore and Mary Brown, William H. 
Borden and family, Charles and Martha Heritage. In the after- 
noon called on Howard and Esther Rulin, Wilbur and Hannah 



362 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Hendrickson, William and Isabel Dawson, then to Albert and 
Rebecca Heritage's to tea. After tea called on Milton and Ara- 
bella Busby, Gideon and Emma Peaslee, returning to John Heri- 
tage's for the night. 

8th. May Owens went with us this morning to call on Robert 
Curtis and Lydia Owen, Benjamin and Elizabeth Heritage, 
Edward and Howard Cooper, Anna Cooper and her mother, Mary 
Ellen Hendrickson, Anna Bradshaw, Charlotte Burrough and 
Eliza, her daughter, and then to her home to dine. In the after- 
noon called on Elizabeth Lippincott, Anna Colson, Isaiah and Ann 
Borden, William and Rebecca Ogden, Ella Tomlin, Laura Ridg- 
way, George and Anna Heritage to tea, and after tea called on 
J. Heritage and family, the wife, daughter of Ann Borden. 

pth. At Mickleton this morning after meeting went home with 
Milton and Ardella Buzby. Letitia Test was there. In the after- 
noon John Heritage brought us to Warner Underwood's at 
Woodbury. Took tea with Sarah E. Eves and children. Had a 
meeting in Woodbury meeting-house in the evening, well attended, 
a number of the other branch were present. Both branches occupy 
the same house. A number of them expressed their satisfaction 
with the message given and one prominent among them said, 
" I wish those shutters were permanently lowered." Stayed all 
night with Warner and Eliza Underwood. 

10th. Louisa Ogden came for us this morning and took us to 
call on Lizzie Marshall, daughter of John Parrish, Hannah Anna 
Shaw, Mary Pine, Beulah Mankin, Lizzie Talman, Mary and 
Hannah Comly, Joseph Clement, and to her home to dine and rest. 
Her husband is Clement Ogden. In the afternoon called on Anna, 
Louisa, and Elizabeth Andrews, and then to Ogden's to tea. After 
tea made an interesting visit to James and Lydia Griscom's, chil- 
dren of William Wade Griscom. 

nth. We called this morning on Irene Davis and Anna Barn- 
hart, Lydia Ann Tomlin and to Elizabeth Engle's to dine. In the 
afternoon called on Dr. Elizabeth Rockford, Priscilla Warring- 



Travels in the Ministry 363 

ton, Susan Linton and then to Charles and Elizabeth Garrett's to 
tea. After tea called on Daniel Pine and daughter Mary. 

12th. First day. Went to Cape May Point to meeting that 
morning, in company with Charles Lippincott from Swedesboro. 
About one hundred present, and a satisfactory meeting. In the 
afternoon a very heavy storm came up but slackened so we could 
take the train for Ocean City, where Amy I. Garrett met us and 
took us to her home, The Eversea. Another heavy rain came on 
in the night. 

13th. At Ocean City to-day and it rained most of the time. 
Went to the Paxson sisters to dine. Henry Paxson, their father, 
is now aged 94. Also found Thompson and Mary Shourds and 
Walter and Sarah Buffington there. Had a meeting in the Young 
People's Hall in the evening, which was well attended and the 
message appeared to be satisfactory to those present, many of 
whom were Methodists. 

14th. Went to Camden this morning and Lucy Cooper met us 
and took us to call on Harry and Henrietta Avis, Elizabeth Bur- 
roughs and family, Rebecca Lawrence, Edward and Edith Rob- 
erts, Thomas and Sophie Conrad, then to her home to dine. After 
dinner we went to Samuel Sharp's. Mary W. Test came and took 
us to call on Ella Bernheisel, Levinus, and Anna Stiles, Mary 
Ellen Troth, Mary L. E. Haines, Jesse Bond, and then took us 
to Edward and Hannah Roberts, J. C. Darnell and Bertha, their 
children. 

15th. Hannah Roberts went with us to call on Mary Brown 
and daughter Ellen, Sibilla Ewen, Walter and Isabella Lewis, and 
Edith, daughter of May Brown. In the afternoon called on Sid- 
ney Shallcross, Nerr and Mary Borton, Albertha Rea at Richard 
Matlack's, George and Amanda Tyler, E. Tennis and daughter 
Martha. At meeting in Camden in the evening and then home 
with Edward Roberts. 

16th. We called this morning on Maggie Tyler, Beulah Tithian 
and Rachel Burrough, Lida Tarrs, Harry and Lillie Rogers, 



364 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Thomas and Catherine Pancoast, Emma Soper, Benajah Andrews 
and James Durham and wife. 

1 ph. Samuel Sharp and Hannah Roberts went with us to-day 
to call on Rebecca Pennell and family, Lizzie Troth, Fanny 
Schrivener and Sarah Conard and Daniel Kay and wife, Albert 
and Sally Eastman's, and then came to Charles and Sarah Albert- 
son's for the night. 

18th. Charles Albertson took us this morning to call on Martha 
Haines and her son Joseph, Charles and Augusta Rulens, and 
John and Bessie Albertson's, where we dined. A heavy rain set 
in this morning and continued much of the day. In the after- 
noon we called on Burr and Lizzie Haines, Samuel Phillips' family 
from Canada, and then to Mary Thackery's at Haddonfield for the 
night. 

ipth. First day. Attended the meeting at Haddonfield this 
morning, quite large for the place. Went home with Walter and 
Mary Ella Rulen. After dinner we called on Henry and Mary 
Redmond and their daughters Mary and Abby, then on Eben and 
Sarah Matthews, Roland and Maria Conrow, Elizabeth Burroughs 
and Sarah Burroughs. Then came with Beulah Fithian to her 
home in Camden with George and Margaret Gaskill. Had an- 
other meeting at Camden in the evening which was well at- 
tended and very satisfactory. 

20th. Hannah Roberts and Bertha Darnell went with us to 
Samuel Sharp's this morning. In the afternoon we came to 
Riverton, where Ezra and Anna C. Lippincott met us and took 
us to their hospitable home. Another heavy shower after our 
arrival. After tea we called on William and Blanche Thomas and 
returned to Lippincott's for the night. 

21st. Anna Lippincott went with us this morning to call on 
Martha Biddle, Charles Parry and his daughter Alice, Thomas 
Evans and family, then on an aged woman named Gibson and an- 
other named Baker, Robert and Sarah Garwood, Joseph and Anna 
Roberts. In the afternoon we called on Lucy Wood at the chil- 
dren's summer home, and Anna Williams and family, Caroline 



Travels in the Ministry 365 

Lippincott and then to S. Robinson and Hettie Coale and family 
to tea and for the evening. 

22d. Came to Clayton and Mary Conrow's this morning, then 
went to Nathan and Sarah Conrow's to dine. In the afternoon 
called on Enoch and Rachel Evans, and to Morris and Catharine 
Williams' to tea, returning to Clayton Conrow's for the night. 

23d. Attended the meeting at Westfield this morning. Quite 
a good-sized and an interesting meeting. Went home with Lizzie 
Thomas and daughter. In the afternoon we visited Edgar and 
Abbie Conrow to good satisfaction. 

24th. Came to Moorestown this morning and attended the 
funeral of William Dunn Rogers and then went home with Emily 
Atkinson for the remainder of the day. The committee to arrange 
for our visits met us there in the evening. 

25th. John M. Lippincott took us this morning to call on 
Rachel Evans and daughters, Gulielma Meary, Carrie Lippincott 
and Ellen Wilton, Abby and Lydia Lippincott, Joseph and Mary 
Killie, George and Charlotte Hancock, and Barclay and Mary 
Jones. In the afternoon James Atkinson went with us to call 
on John and Carrie Busby, Dr. Chalkley Killie, Hannah and Lydia 
Evans and Mary Rogers, Rachel Rudrow, and Elizabeth Evans, 
Chalkley Zelley, Asa Roberts and John Collins, and in the evening 
on Charles and Hannah Ford. 

26th. First day. At meeting at Moorestown; large and very 
attentive. Isaac H. and Anna Hillborn were present. Went 
home from meeting with John M. and Anna Lippincott, their 
son David and his wife met us there. Went to Westfield to an ap- 
pointed meeting this afternoon, a favored season. On our return 
we called on J. M. Lippincott's daughters and then went to Isaiah 
and May Linton's to tea, returning to Emily Atkinson's for the 
night. 

2 ph. John M. Lippincott took us this morning to call on 
Anna Coles, Charles and Priscilla Ballinger, Thackery and Ruth 
Rogers, Robert and Edith Evans, Nathaniel and Emily Dudley, 
Albert and Bessie Haines, John D. and May Ann Warwick. In 



366 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

the afternoon we called on Joseph and Ellen Hilton, Levi L. and 
Eunice Dudley, Theodore Briggs, Abbie and Elizabeth Briggs, 
Richard and Margaret Warwick, Albert J. and Esther Roberts and 
then to William and Lucy Lippincott's to tea. 

28th. Samuel and Mary De Cou came for us this morning and 
we called on Martha Hollingshead and daughter, Levi Lippin- 
cott and wife, Mary Smith, Elizabeth, Rachel, and Mary Roberts, 
Joseph and Keziah Cole, Harry and Rachel Herr. In the after- 
noon called on Lydia Rogers, widow of William Dunn Rogers, 
Charles and Hannah Jones, Horace and Elizabeth Roberts, John 
and Martha Matlack, and to tea with Charles and May Andrews, 
after which we called on William D. Lippincott and wife and 
family. 

2pth. Emily Atkinson, Jr., went with us to call on William L. 
and Martha Lippincott, Samuel R. and Lydia C. Cole, Wilmer and 
Mary Collins, Samuel F. and Mary Ann Cole, Leon and Mary 
Collins, and Harry and Deborah Coles. In the afternoon Samuel 
and Mary De Cou went with us to visit Charles Collins, Isaac and 
Martha Collins, Aaron Collins, Arthur and Emily Collins, and 
home with them to tea. After tea made a short call on Rachel 
Hilton on our way to Atkinson's for the night. 

30th. At Moorestown meeting this morning, about fifty pres- 
ent. Went home with Emmor and Martha Roberts to dine. After 
dinner we called on Thomas Holmes and his children, then went 
to Ella Hilton's and Carrie Lippincott's to tea. Called after tea 
on Dr. and Emily Gardner and Emma Wright, then went to the 
Friends' Home, where we held a parlor meeting, in which I had 
a comforting and cheering message for some who were there. 

31st. John M. Lippincott came for us this morning and we 
called on Walter and Laura Holmes, Thomas and Anna Pancoast, 
Harry and Anna Dudley, Charles and Sally Dudley, Edward and 
Lillie Holmes, John and Anna Dudley, then to Edmund and Mary 
Fisher Holmes' to dine. In the afternoon called on Anna Ruder- 
row, George D. and Mary Holmes, Jesse Lippincott and daughters 
Martha and Lillie, Mary Test, David and Elizabeth Ballinger, then 



Travels in the Ministry 367 

to Samuel Wilmer's to tea, where Ellen Haines and Isaac and 
Anna Hillborn met us, as the latter board there. 

Eighth month 1. Samuel and Mary De Cou went with us this 
morning to call on John Stokes and Elmina Borton, Thomas and 
Margaret Lippincott, Anna Andrews and son Clayton and 
wife Anna, Dr. Nathan Thorn and wife Ellwood, and Lydia Hol- 
lingshead. In the afternoon Aaron Engle came for us and took 
us to Aaron and Sarah B. Engle's, his father and mother at Med- 
ford. 

2d. Attended the meeting at Medford this morning. It was 
large and from the many expressions given at the close a satis- 
factory season. Went home with Josiah and Martha Rogers to 
dine. Had another meeting in Medford meeting-house in the 
afternoon still larger than the morning meeting and equally satis- 
factory. Remained with Josiah Rogers for the night. 

3d. Josiah Rogers took us to-day to call on Eva Thomas and 
Martha Stewart, Martha and Sarah Bates and Rebecca Stack- 
house, Mark Zelley, Nettie Griscom, Josiah Allen, Walter and 
Gertrude Rogers and family, Arthur and Anna Beckett, and Anna 
Ballinger's to tea, where we met quite a company of friends and 
had an enjoyable social visit. 

4th. Josiah and Ellwood Rogers went with me to-day to 
Pemberton to attend the funeral of Judge Joshua Forsyth, a large 
funeral and an impressive occasion. Dined at Dr. and Hettie 
Hollingshead's, then returned to Ellwood Rogers' for tea, and to 
Medford at Josiah Rogers' for the night. 

5th. Asa and Sallie Engle went with us to call on Harry and 
Leona Brick, Wilbur and Ella Engle, William and Mary Cowper- 
thwaite to dine. In the afternoon called on Wilson and Martha 
Haines, G. Cressman and Ethel Darnall, Charles and Mary Hol- 
lingshead and then to Edmund and Hannah Braddocks for the 
night, meeting here with Barclay and Phebe Phililps, and Edwin 
and Sarah Jane Dudley. 

6th. Edmund Braddock took us this morning to see the cran- 
berry bogs, which we enjoyed very much, calling on our way back 



368 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

at Howard and Ella Braddock's. In the afternoon Edmund and 
Hannah took us to Aaron Engle's to tea and for the night. Several 
friends had been invited in to meet us and we had a very pleasant 
and enjoyable evening. 

fth. Aaron and Sarah Engle brought us to Moorestown this 
morning, calling on the way at Newlin and Julia Lippincott's, 
Allen and Sarah Jones, then went to John M. and Anna Lippin- 
cott's to dinner. In the afternoon we called on David Griscom 
and his daughter, Mary Lippincott, her son, Samuel Lippincott, 
and wife and grandson, Hannah Leeds, Frank and Lucy Coates 
and Richard Dudley. The last two not very satisfactory because 
of outward conditions. 

8th. Called this morning on Samuel and Alice Branin, Jennie 
Haines, wife of Franklin, Joseph and Carrie Lippincott, Elizabeth 
Lippincott, Anna Powell, and dined with Tacy Paul and son, 
William. In the afternoon called on Sarah, wife of Edwin 
Pierce, and her father, Anna Perkins and Rachel Wilton. In the 
evening quite a large number of friends gathered at J. M. Lippin- 
cott's, with whom we passed a pleasant social evening. 

pth. First day. Attended the meeting at Rancocas where both 
branches of Friends still meet in the same house with the partition 
between them. This meeting was well attended, a number of the 
other branch meeting with us. Went home with Henry H. and 
Elizabeth Leeds and daughter Caroline. In the afternoon they 
took us to' Mt. Holly, where we held a very large and impressive 
meeting, much satisfaction being expressed. We returned to 
Rancocas for the night. 

10th. Alexander Thompson came for us this morning and we 
called on Alice Taylor, Rowland and Eleanor Stokes, Martha 
Woolman, Sarah Darnell, Abel and Sarah Tomlinson, and Han- 
nah Haines and daughter, Alice, and then to Alexander's to dine, 
his wife, Rebecca, and sister, Catharine Scattergood, a paralytic. 
In the afternoon he took us to Granville and Nancy Leeds for the 
night. 



Travels in the Ministry 369 

nth. Granville and Nancy Leeds went with us to-day and 
called on Rebecca Mcllvain and daughters, William and Anna 
Stokes, Sterling and Mary Mcllvaine, Clementine, Sarah and 
Hudson Haines. In the afternoon called on Virginia Hansell and 
her son Morris, Tyler B. and Anna S. Engle, Joseph and Mary 
Lundy, Albert and Sarah B. Mills, William Scattergood and sister 
Sarah, he confined to bed with paralysis ; Horace and Susanna 
Haines, returning to Granville's for the night. 

12th. Granville took us for a short boat ride on Rancocas Creek 
this morning and then to Priscilla Clothier's, in Mt. Holly, calling 
on Amos and Rebecca Evans on our way. In the afternoon we 
called on Barclay White, Restore and Exene Lamb, Charles and 
Lydia Hancock and Sarah Dugall. In the evening the Han- 
cocks and Lambs came to Priscilla's to call on us, which we much 
enjoyed. 

13th. Called this morning on Elizabeth Goldsmith, Benjamin 
and Anna Deacon, Rachel Lippincott and Lucy Lamb, and then 
attended the week-day meeting here. In the afternoon George H. 
Killie went with us to call on Dr. William and Mary Parry and 
her mother, Lydia Haines ; Walter and Anna Middleton, Joseph 
and Hannah Engle, Harry and Sarah Ballinger, Robert, Isaac and 
Mary Ballinger, Charles and Caroline Ballinger, and Lucy Thorn- 
ton. Had another very large and satisfactory meeting in the 
evening. 

14th. A very rainy morning until 10 a. m., then G. H. Killie 
went with us to call on Willet, Walter and Caroline Shinn, Lydia 
Newbold and her daughter Margaret, Mary Haines and Clifford 
and Clara Engle, Mabel and Mary Archer, Maria Levis and 
daughter Emily. In the afternoon called on John Coshaw on our 
way to Vincentown, where we went to the home of Evan and 
Phebe Busby. Had a meeting in the evening here, largely at- 
tended and very satisfactory. 

15th. Had a nice call this morning at Daniel and Lydia Wool- 
man's. In the afternoon Evan and Phebe Busby took us to 
24 



370 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Franklin and Lizzie Zelley's, at Jacksonville, where we remained 
for the night. 

16th. First day. Attended meeting at Mansfield, a little out- 
side of Columbus, this morning. The meeting was large and 
satisfactory. Went home with Thomas and Mary Harvey. In 
the afternoon had an appointed meeting at Copenay, or Upper 
Springfield, near Franklin Zelley's. Though there was no regular 
meeting held here the house was nearly full with an attentive and 
appreciative audience. Went home with Franklin and Lizzie 
Zelley for the night. 

iyth. F. and E. Zelley went with us to-day to call on Caleb 
and Mary Hancock, Lydia Stevenson, Cornell Stevenson and his 
son Elmer and wife Margaret, and then to Amanda Stevenson's to 
dine. In the afternoon called on Isaiah and Ellen Atkinson and 
Samuel and Edith Rogers and went home with the Zelley's for 
the night. 

18th. Franklin Zelley took us to call on Ellwood Hancock, a 
member of the other branch and his cousin, Ann Hancock, by 
whom we were pleasantly received. Then to Rudolph and Hannah 
Swain's to dinner and after dinner Rudolph took us to Peter Har- 
vey's, his sister, Elizabeth, and niece, Joanna Shreve, being with 
him. In the evening we called on Nathan and Anna Wright, 
Charles and Amy Black, and Frank and Mary Harvey. 

ipth. Called this morning before meeting on Mary and Susan 
Troth, Elizabeth and Anna Scott, and Mary Bowne. Then went 
to the mid-week meeting and home after meeting with Thomas and 
Martha Gibbs. In the afternoon called on Sarah Cox and Alfred 
and Anna Cox, her children, Rebecca, Hugh, and her friend, Ann 
Eliza Albertson, and then to Thomas Harvey's for the night. 

20th. Thomas and Mary Harvey went with us this morning to 
call on Stacy and Martha Taylor, Benjamin and Anna Kirby, 
William and Sally Biddle, and to William and Elizabeth Prays and 
family to dine. In the afternoon we called on George and Martha 
Bowne, Ezra Scattergood's daughter Josephine, Lewis and Abby 



Travels in the Ministry 371 

Taylor, Amos Harvey and daughter Mabel, and Mary Moore. Had 
a large and satisfactory meeting in the town hall in Columbus in 
the evening. 

21st. Stacy Taylor came for us this morning and we called on 
Joseph and Mary Ann Taylor, Rebecca Aaronson and Emily 
Rockhill and daughters Emily and Mabel, Hannah and Elizabeth 
Atkinson, and Mary Troth, and then he took us to Isaac and Mary 
Woolman's, in Crosswicks. In the afternoon called on Alfred 
and Catharine Satterthwaite (Orthodox), Howell and Catharine 
Still well, Mary Black, Ella Lippincott and daughter, Biddle and 
Sally Black and family, and in the evening called on George M. 
Satterthwaite and daughters Anna and Susan. 

22d. Caled this morning on Laura and Charlotte Rogers, Ann 
Barker and Elizabeth Middleton, Susan Brick and Anna Carroll, 
Margaret B. Ellis and Jennie Middleton. In the afternoon called 
on John and Jennie Taylor and then went to Richard and Hannah 
De Cou's for tea. Joseph Hendrickson and wife were there. Had 
an interesting parlor meeting in the evening. 

23d. First day. A large meeting at Crosswicks this morning. 
Henry R. and Rachel Fell came for us, brought us to Trenton 
this afternoon and we attended another large and satisfactory 
meeting at Trenton in the evening. 

24th. Rested quietly at Henry Fells this morning. In the 
afternoon called on Rebecca Jones and Anna Wilson, Theodosia 
Pitman and her granddaughter Anna Pitman, Dr. and Rebecca 
Nicholson, Elmer and Hannah Bainbridge, and Anna Roberts, 
returning to Fell's for the night. 

25th. Called this morning at the home of Ridgway and Laura 
Fell and daughter Reba, then on Rachel Hendrickson and daugh- 
ter Mary, Dr. Woodman and wife and his father Henry Woodman, 
Mary Wright and her daughter Edna, Mary Moore and her 
daughter Rachel, William and Anna Bonner, Jane Rogers and 
daughter Ella, George and Mary Hudson, then went to Daniel 
and Hannah Willets to dine. In the afternoon called at the home 
of Frank Wright, then on Elias and Martha De Con, Samuel 



372 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Parker and family, Seth Ely and family. All night at Willets'. 
John and Jane Horsnell, English Friends, came there to see us in 
the evening. 

26th. Daniel Willetts went with us this day to call on Thomas 
Marshall and Martha Whitehead, Dr. Alvin and Sarah Atkinson, 
and then took us to the potteries, which we much enjoyed, then 
called on Mary South and Frank and Carrie Bamford, Mrs. Turn- 
bull and daughter Carrie. After dinner we called on Jane Hors- 
nell and daughter Reba on our way to Benjamin Satterthwaite 
and his daughter, Dr. Laura, for the night. 

27th. Laura Satterthwaite took us this morning to call on 
Crozer and Sarah Reeves, Margaret Buckman and Carrie Preston. 
In the afternoon called on Samuel and Lillian De Cou, Mrs. Bald- 
win, Anna Potts and then went to the week-day meeting at Tren- 
ton. Went home with Maxwell Marshall and daughters Ella and 
Helen. Had a parlor meeting at the Friends' Home in the even- 
ing. 

28th. Rained most of the day so we did not venture to go out 
with the carriage, but called on Arthur and Helen Moore in the 
evening. 

29th. Left Trenton this morning for Claymont, Delaware, 
where we were met by Estella Hall Speakman, wife of Allen 
Speakman and taken to their very hospitable home, where we 
found her mother, Lydia H. Hall, who had been quite ill, but was 
better. 

30th. Had an appointed meeting at Claymont this morning in 
a town hall. It was well attended and as I was led to answer the 
inquiry in some minds, " What are the principles of Friends ? " it 
was well received and appeared to be very satisfactory to those 
present. In the afternoon I delivered a temperance address in the 
same place, my subject being " Alcohol not a necessity as a 
remedial agent." Returned to Speakman's for the night. 

31st Returned to Baltimore this morning, the work in which 
we have been engaged the past three summers having now been 
accomplished. 



Travels in the Ministry 373 

The following is a summary of that work : 

Number of weeks engaged in the visit 63 

Whole number of meetings attended 321 

Whole number of families visited 1850 

Whole number of miles traveled in public conveyances. . . .11,006 
Whole number of miles traveled in carriages 3,378 

In a review of this large amount of service and extensive area 
of country visited without an accident we have very much to 
be thankful for. The strength given for each branch of the work 
was not our own but could only come from the Divine One who 
called us into and qualified us for the service. 

The visiting of the families in the social way seemed to be most 
keenly appreciated and elicited many expressions of thankfulness 
that we came as we did. Its effect seemed to arouse an earnest 
desire to hear the spoken word from us and evidently opened the 
mind and heart to receive it. 

The remainder of the year has been spent mostly in and about 
our home in Baltimore in the ordinary routine of duty except yield- 
ing to an invitation to be present at the opening of the new 
meeting-house at Lansdowne on the 21st and 22d of Eleventh 
month, and going to George School to have a meeting with the 
students on the evening of the 22d, and attending the funeral of 
Isaac H. Hillborn on the 23d ; returning home that evening with a 
peaceful mind that the duty required had been accomplished. 



CHAPTER XV. 
Travels in the Ministry. — Continued. 

Very little of moment aside from the usual routine of duties 
transpired the first three months of the year. The latter part of 
the Fourth month we attended Concord Quarterly Meeting, held in 
Wilmington, and visited with our friends the Andrews, Richard- 
sons and Bancrofts, our visit at this time being mainly of a 
social character with these friends with whom we had long been 
on close terms of intimacy, though I had considerable service in 
the Quarterly Meeting, which from many expressions given, was 
well received. 

The last days of the Fourth month were spent at Fawn Grove 
and Delta, Pa., as part of the work of the Yearly Meeting visiting 
committee, from which we returned with our sheaves of peace. 

Fifth month 3. Received word of the death of my dear friend 
Mordecai Bartram, of Willistown, Pa., and the next day attended 
the funeral, which was the largest I ever saw in a country neigh- 
borhood. The large meeting-house was filled and a large number 
were unable to get in at all. I never saw so much tenderness 
and weeping in so large an assembly as was the case there while 
I was speaking. 

The next day after my return from this funeral I received the 
announcement that our dear friend Margaretta Walton had passed 
to the higher life. This was not unexpected, yet was a great 
shock, I had been so closely bound with her in our spiritual work. 
While I did not doubt that she was fully prepared for the change 
I knew she would be much missed in the home circle and in the 
Society. Attended the funeral on Seventh day, the seventh, at 
Race Street, Philadelphia, which was very large, and I went with 



Travels in the Ministry 375 

the friends to London Grove, where she was interred. Another 
very large and impressive meeting was held here, after which I 
returned to my home in Baltimore. On the Ninth I was again 
called to pass through Philadelphia to attend another funeral at 
Mickleton, New Jersey, this time a young married woman not a 
member but an attendant of the Friends' Meeting, who was quite 
suddenly removed. A large number of young people were present 
and it was a deeply impressive occasion. 

On the fourth of Sixth month I was called to Wilmington to 
attend the funeral of my dear friend, John Richardson, with whom 
and his family I had maintained intimate friendly relations for 
over forty years. It was a close trial and it was felt that my testi- 
mony on that occasion was calculated to comfort and sustain the 
bereaved and encourage all who were present to emulate the life 
of the departed one. 

On the ninth of Sixth month we left Baltimore to enter upon 
some religious work for which I had previously been granted a 
minute by my friends of Baltimore Monthly Meeting. We went 
directly to Cold Stream, Ontario, at which place the Genesee 
Yearly Meeting, of which I had been a member for fifty years 
before removing to Baltimore, was to be held, and we were enter- 
tained at the home of my cousins, Jonah and Emily C. Zavitz. 
This meeting was larger than usual, it being the first time it had 
been held in this place, and it gave the opportunity for many young 
people to attend who had never been at a Yearly Meeting before. 
It was to us a very satisfactory meeting, and the mingling with 
so many of my old friends was a source of much enjoyment. We 
remained here until the eighteenth, visiting in the families of 
several friends. We left on the eighteenth for Detroit, where we 
were met by Emilie P. Jackson and taken to her home, where 
we received a cordial welcome from her and her husband William 
Jackson and their daughter Louise, who with her husband occu- 
pied an apartment in the same house. 

On First day, the nineteenth, as we were unable to hold a meet- 
ing until the afternoon our friends proposed that we go on an 



376 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

excursion down the Detroit River, which was much enjoyed by 
us. In the afternoon we held a meeting in the chapel of the 
Congregational church at which about fifty were present. At the 
close of the meeting nearly, if not quite, every person present 
came forward to speak to us and expressed their satisfaction at 
what had been said. This was so unusual that I thought it 
worthy of note as showing how the minds of people of 
other denominations are open for the reception of the essential 
truths of Christianity, which presents the need of right living. The 
next day we wended our way to Chicago to spend a little while 
with the family of my wife's only brother, with whom we had 
not mingled for five years. We remained with them until the 
Twelfth of Seventh month, when we left for a visit to Denver 
and Colorado Springs. On our arrival in Denver on the thirteenth 
we were met at the station by William G. M. Stone, who married 
the daughter of a first cousin of my first wife, Judith. They had 
been living in Denver for thirty-three years and we were the first 
of their Eastern friends who had come to make them a visit and 
it was one of much true social enjoyment. 

On First day, the fifteenth, we held a meeting in the Unitarian 
church in Denver and in the evening attended by special invitation 
the Friends' church (Orthodox). There were about one hundred 
in attendance at each meeting and they were seasons of deep spirit- 
ual baptism and were so recognized by those who were present, 
as was evidenced by the many expressions of satisfaction which 
reached us. 

On Second day, sixteenth, we were, invited to the home of Dr. 
Smedley in the evening, where we had quite a reception, as the 
doctor said he had invited all whom he knew, said " thee " to meet 
us, and we had a delightfully enjoyable evening. 

On Third day we took the train and went to Silver Plume, 
about fifty miles up into the Rocky Mountains. This ride was 
much enjoyed, the magnificent scenery, the power displayed by 
the ingenuity of man in overcoming obstacles so a train of cars 
could be taken up so heavy a grade, the clear and rapidly rush- 



Travels in the Ministry 377 

ing Clear Creek along whose banks we ran for many miles, the 
snow-clad peak of Gray's Mountain in the distance, the ever- 
changing scenery, made it an occasion not only enjoyable but 
indescribably grand and awe-inspiring. 

We spent the remainder of the week up to Seventh day morn- 
ing visiting the friends whom we had met and some of whom we 
had previously known, and on that morning we left for Colorado 
Springs, seventy-five miles distant, passing through much grand 
scenery. We were met here at the station by Matilda McAllister 
and taken to the home of her parents, Harry and Elizabeth Mc- 
Allister, where we also met her sister Mary, who had become a 
member of our Society while attending Swarthmore College. 

Not being able to arrange for a meeting here on First day, when 
the morning came we obtained a carriage and with Matilda started 
out for a ride to enjoy the magnificent scenery. We had 
a grand view of Pike's Peak from the front of their dooryard. 
Our ride this morning took us through the Garden of the Gods 
and then to Manitou Springs, and we enjoyed every moment of it 
in the admiration of these wonders of nature and the exhilaration 
of the atmosphere at that altitude, 6,000 feet, marred only by being 
caught in a shower on our homeward journey. The afternoon 
was very rainy and we had a delightful social visit with this 
family of culture and refinement. 

Second day. We started out for another ride, compelled this 
time to go without any escort, save our driver, going first into the 
South Cheyenne Canon, through or between the pillars of Her- 
cules, and up to the lower of the seven falls. Then retracing our 
steps we went up the North Cheyenne Canon to Brum Inn, then 
climbed up the mountain side by a newly-constructed but excellent 
road until we reached the divide and an altitude of 9,200 feet, and 
were in and among the foot hills of Pike's Peak. We 
were quite surprised to find the scarlet harebell growing in such 
profusion at that altitude. Leaving the divide we went down 
on the other side, through Bear Creek Canon to Colorado City, 
and so back to the McAllister's. The whole ride was much en- 



378 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

joyed for the beauty and magnificence of its scenery, the grandeur 
of the natural view and the sublimity evidenced by the Creator's 
power. 

The next morning we left Colorado Springs and returned to 
Denver, where we dined with our cousin, and in the evening took 
the train for Chicago, arriving safely the next evening and were 
once more cordially welcomed in the home of our brother and his 
family. 

On the twelfth of Eighth month we left Chicago for Salem, 
Indiana, distant 283 miles, and were met at the station by Dr. 
Overman and Ellwood Trueblood, and went home with the doctor, 
who with his wife Mary gave us a cordial welcome. 

Highland Meeting, about four miles from Salem is the old 
meeting of the well-known Friend, Priscilla Cadwallader. This 
meeting is quite remote from any other Friend's meeting (I think 
there is none nearer than two hundred miles) and lies off from 
the route of Friends when visiting the Western Yearly Meetings, 
so of latter years they have had but few strangers or visiting 
ministers among them. We found a nice body of interested 
members, quite a large number of whom were in the younger walks 
of life. We remained here a week, during which time we held 
three meetings in their meeting-house and one in the Methodist 
house in the city of Salem, all of which were well attended, each 
meeting at the meeting-house increasing in size and interest. We 
also visited socially in most of the families. We were everywhere 
received with a warm welcome and we left them on the nineteenth 
with the feeling that our visit to this meeting had been blessed 
to them and to ourselves. 

On the morning of the nineteenth we left Salem for Cincinnati, 
going by way of Louisville, and arrived safely after a pleasant day's 
journey. Were met at the station by Pierce J. Cadwallader and 
were soon quietly welcomed in his home by his good wife Ella. 
George Griest, the Secretary of Y. F. Association, also was at the 
station to meet us. 



Travels in the Ministry 379 

We had received a special request from the Y. F. A., through 
P. J. Cadwallader, to address them that evening, so at the ap- 
pointed hour we wended our way to the hall in which the meeting 
was to be held. About fifty gathered and I felt to speak upon the 
subject " What are the principles of Friends, and what the reasons 
why they should be accepted among the mass of religious views 
extant among men." Very close attention was given to my ad- 
dress, and much expression of satisfaction given that I had 
chosen that topic, as there were a number present who are not in 
membership with us, and many of these came to me and said they 
were glad to have the explanation so clearly given and it met the 
witness for truth in them. 

On Seventh day morning, the twentieth, we took the train for 
Waynesville in order to attend Indiana Yearly Meeting, the Meet- 
ing of Ministers and Elders being held on that day. We were 
met at the station by Anna Kelly and taken to the home of herself 
and sister Hannah and brother Isaac, where we were to be, and 
were entertained during the Yearly Meeting. It was felt that we 
had a good meeting. I found a good deal of service which ap- 
peared to be well appreciated — this being the meeting to which 
my wife, Eliza, belonged up to the time of our marriage, she 
mingling socially with so many of her old friends and the close 
bond of sympathy extended to both of us was very enjoyable, for 
which we were very grateful. 

On Sixth day, twenty-sixth, we left Waynesville for Mt. 
Pleasant and were enabled to go right through without detention, 
as I had made arrangements while in Chicago to have the fast train 
stop where we could make our connections, which the railroad 
authorities seemed very willing to do. Our purpose in coming 
here was to attend Ohio Yearly Meeting and we were nicely enter- 
tained at the home of Abel and Amy Walker and their daughter 
Anna B. Walker. This meeting, though small, was an interesting, 
and I believe, an instructive season. We found some discourage- 
ment among them, arising from the smallness of their numbers and 
some injudicious criticism by some visiting friends the previous 



380 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

year, and we found it our pleasurable duty tp encourage them to 
hold on. While their numbers were few the Divine blessing 
would not be withheld, and I found a larger percentage of their 
membership were in attendance than we had at any of our larger 
Yearly meetings in the East. As the meeting closed we found 
a more hopeful feeling had somewhat displaced the discourage- 
ment, and we felt that it had been good for us to have thus mingled 
with them. 

We left Mt. Pleasant on the morning of Ninth month, second, 
and went direct to Cleveland, where we were met by A. Curtin 
Russell and taken to his home, where he with his wife Carrie and 
their little family of five children, made us very welcome. We 
rested Seventh day, except taking a trolley car ride around the 
beautiful city. On Seventh day evening we held a parlor meeting 
at A. Curtin Russell's at which those who are members with us 
living in the city were present, and also some members of the 
Friends' church (Orthodox), and some of their neighbors. It 
was felt to have been a good meeting and some seemed closely 
touched at the testimony I felt called to deliver. 

On First day morning we went with Curtin to the First Friends' 
Church, and soon after being seated the pastor, on coming in and 
seeing me in the audience, came and insisted that I should go to 
the platform with him. It was a singular meeting for those calling 
themselves Friends. We had during the meeting five hymns sung, 
five prayers offered, two sermons, one of which a short one by 
myself, as I was to be free and speak if I had anything to say, 
and besides these six testimonies were given, a collection taken, 
and the meeting dismissed with a benediction. During the meet- 
ing there was evidenced a deep spiritual feeling mingled with 
much that seemed purely emotional, and in this activity it differed 
from anything I had ever met in my experience with different 
religious denominations. After the meeting I received a warm 
welcome from a number of their members, and the testimony I 
had given they said met a warm response in their hearts. We 
went home after meeting with Walter and Emma Malone, who 



Travels in the Ministry 381 

are the leaders, he the pastor of the meeting, though not receiving 
any salary. His wife was a granddaughter of Ira Brown, who 
was a brother of Nicholas Brown, an eminent minister in his day. 
In the afternoon we held on open-air meeting in one of the public 
parks, at which about one hundred and fifty were present, and it 
was felt to be a good meeting, though rather rudely interrupted 
as I was about to close by one who said my hour was up and an- 
other was to follow. We remained through this meeting, prior 
to the opening of which several handsome apologies were made 
for the rude interruption. After the close of the second meeting 
we went home with a brother of Curtin Russell's and were warmly 
and affectionately entertained. 

The next morning we left for Buffalo and from there to Orchard 
Park to pay a social visit to Mary T. Freeman and family, with 
whom we had long been closely associated, and on Fourth day, the 
seventh, left for Baltimore, where we arrived at evening. The 
retrospect of our summer's outing and visiting, both socially 
and religiously, is not only pleasant but a source of much comfort 
and encouragement. 

Our Yearly Meeting occurred the last of Tenth month and was 
unusually large. We had the company of Joel Borton and Sarah 
T. Linville as visiting ministers. The meeting on the whole was 
very satisfactory. 

This Yearly Meeting makes the one hundred and second which 
I have attended, sixty-seven of which have been those of which 
I have been a member, which is an unusual record. 

On Sixth day evening, prior to thanksgiving day, so gener- 
ally observed by the people in this day, Oliver Huekel, the pastor 
of the Associate Congregational church, in the city of Baltimore, 
came to our home and extended to me an invitation to join with 
them and with the minister of a prominent Methodist church in 
this city in holding a union thanksgiving service on that day and 
also extending through me an invitation to the members of our 
meeting to be present. After a few moments thought it appeared 
clearly to me that it would be right to accept the invitation, un- 



382 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

usual as it was, and I told him I would accept it and be present to 
take such part as I felt free to do, it being understood that the 
Methodist minister would deliver the sermon. Before the day 
arrived it appeared clear to me that I would be called to make the 
opening prayer. I consulted with some of the elders and found 
they approved my course and on notice being given in our meet- 
ing I was greeted with many expressions of satisfaction. 

When the day came a large meeting gathered. The services 
were opened, with music as is usual in the church. The pastor 
then read the President's proclamation very impressively, follow- 
ing this with a few words of cordial welcome to those who were 
present. He then read as a scripture lesson the eighth chapter of 
Deuteronomy, which seemed very appropriate, and then intro- 
duced me, and under, I believe, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, 
I offered an earnest and heartfelt prayer, which brought a very 
deep solemnity over the meeting and elicited at its close many 
warm and earnest expressions of satisfaction. The Methodist 
minister then gave his address from the text " Bless the Lord, O 
my soul, and forget not His benefits." The sermon and prayer 
were as harmonious as though we had previously ar- 
ranged the topics to be embraced in each, though we had never 
met until just as the meeting was to open. The services closed 
with the singing of the hymn " America," during which the pastor 
went down in the audience and returned with the most prominent 
Jewish rabbi in the city, who closed the meeting with a deeply 
impressive benediction. 

I thus note this circumstance as an evidence of the nearer unity 
of feeling which appears to be growing among the professed 
Christian denominations of our day. This willingnesss to meet 
together for one common purpose, to lay aside our theological 
differences and recognize the Fatherhood of God and the common 
brotherhood of man, is something for which I have long labored 
and it was gratifying to me to be able to embrace such an 
opportunity. I have seldom attended a more impressive meeting, 
and for sometime afterward, as I met such of my acquaintances 



Travels in the Ministry 383 

outside of Friends who were present,, the universal expression has 
been " It was a good meeting." And now as I pen these lines the 
sweet savor of the mingling brings a deep feeling of satisfaction 
over my spirit. 

During the late Yearly Meeting as the query relating to a free 
gospel ministry was under discussion I felt drawn to relate my 
own experience, saying while I was gratified that so full an answer 
could be given to the query, I felt like giving a little from the 
side of the minister, and what it costs one on whom had been laid 
such a service. I stated that in the past fifteen years I had visited 
all the meetings of Friends of our branch in the United States 
but two, had attended each of the yearly meetings at least three 
times, and this had involved 50,000 miles of travel by public 
conveyance and had taken fully three years of the fifteen of time, 
four-fifths of the expense of which had been borne by myself out 
of a not large income, (but I did not state that in this service I 
had been accompanied in nearly all of it by my beloved 
wife), and that in the past four years I had visited some 2,000 
families of Friends in a social and religious way. I closed my re- 
marks with this expression : " Some day, not perhaps until my en- 
coffined form shall lie in yonder aisle, and loving friends gather 
around it for the last loving service, will it be fully realized what 
it has cost one minister to faithfully carry out this testimony." 

The year 1904 has closed and 1905 has opened. What it may 
contain for me, I cannot, of course, know, yet there does appear 
considerable service to be performed ere the Master will say, 
" It is enough. Come up higher and enjoy the reward for thy 
faithfulness." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Travels in the Ministry. — Continued. 

In the early part of this year I was confined to the house for 
several weeks from an attack of rheumatic gout, and as the winter 
was an unusually cold one and the sidewalks very icy I was com- 
pelled to remain indoors a good deal of the time, save getting to 
meeting regularly. Soon after the beginning of this year a con- 
cern rested with me to make a visit to each of the meetings com- 
prising Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and also to visit such of the 
families belonging thereto in a social way as would be practicable, 
also to appoint some meetings among Friends and others while 
in the prosecution of the service. 

In the meantime while this concern was ripening I found con- 
siderable labor in the ministry in our own meetings, and in the 
Second month my wife and self went to attend the meeting at 
Plainfield, N. J., on First day morning, the fifth, and then went to 
Roselle Park and attended a meeting by invitation in the Methodist 
church in that place. Both meetings were largely attended and 
while satisfactory to our own minds, much expression of satis- 
faction was given by those whom we visited. 

At the monthly meeting in the Third month the concern above 
mentioned, having sufficiently ripened, I laid it before our friends 
and asked for a minute in accordance therewith. This was readily 
granted with many expressions of approbation and encourage- 
ment, and was cordially endorsed at the subsequent quarterly 
meeting. 

On the twelfth of the Fourth month my wife and self attended 
the mid-week meeting at Race Street, and I was led to address 
the students on the importance for their success in life, both from 



Travels in the Ministry 385 

a temporal and religious standpoint, to learn to govern themselves 
through a life of self-denial. In the afternoon we went to the 
George School at the invitation of Joseph S. Walton, Jr., the prin- 
cipal, who had desired us to come and mingle with the students 
when not in their classes for several days, which we felt full free- 
dom to do. 

In the evening at their usual mid-week meeting I addressed 
the scholars and was listened to with close attention. We re- 
mained at the school until Second day morning, the seventeenth, 
and attended the meeting at Newtown on First day morning, in 
which I was largely led upon the topic " What is the inner light, 
and what is its influence on human needs ? " This seemed to 
reach the conditions of many who were present and answered 
many inquiries which had been made by the students prior to our 
coming. This intermingling with the students was to us a source 
of much satisfaction and we hope of profit to them, as it enabled 
us to give to them a practical evidence that the life of the minister 
was not one which deprived him of the enjoyments of social 
mingling, but rather was a means of making that life the more 
useful and therefore the more blessed. 

Fourth month, 29. We left Baltimore for Washington to enter 
upon the work for which we had been granted a minute, and 
were kindly entertained at the home of John and Carrie Moon 
and her mother, Rebecca Ballinger. We were at meeting in 
Washington First day morning and evening and during the week 
following up to Sixth day visited in the homes of Walton and 
Jessie Ballinger, Bernard and Laura Janney, James and Clara 
Graham, Mary Sutton, Ruth Place and Sarah R. Matthews and 
sisters, Elizabeth Kent, Dr. Joseph Branson, Morris Thorne, and 
on Second day evening Herbert and Grace Lewis, Samuel and 
Catharine Brosius came to meet us at John Moon's. 

Third day. Called on Susan Pierce, T. Janney Brown, Arthur 
and Helen Stabler, Elizabeth Buckey and then to Thomas Sid- 
well's for the night. 

25 



386 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Fourth day. Called on Anna Mannakee, Alice Duncan and then 
to the Matthews' sisters for the night. 

Fifth day. Had a nice call at Sidwell's School, and after lunch 
called on Nellie Pyle and then came to James W. Roberts and 
sisters, at Alexandria, for the night. 

Sixth day 5. James W. Roberts took us to Woodlawn to 
Anna S. Walton's to dinner, after which we called on Jean 
Roberts, widow of Alfred Roberts, then to Harold and Mary Ann 
Buckman's to tea, and to Warrington and Mary Ann Gillingham's 
for the night. 

Seventh day, 6. Called on Joseph and Margaret Cox and 
Lewis Gillingham and daughter Abby, and then to Cortland and 
Mary Lukens' for the night. 

First day 7. At Woodlawn meeting this morning, which was 
of good size and very attentive to the spoken word. Went home 
with Jacob and Ann Troth, and after dinner called on Allen 
Wilkinson and then to Anna Walton's for the night, where a 
number of friends met us and with them we had a pleasant even- 
ing. 

8th. Went to Washington this morning and in the after- 
noon to Wadesville, in Frederick county, Virginia, and were 
met by Lewis and Susan Pidgeon and taken to their hospitable 
home. 

pth. Went to Rebecca and Eliza Pidgeon's where David W. 
and Ann Branson came to meet us and took us to their home 
and that of their son, William Branson, for the night. 

10th. Were at Winchester mid-week meeting this morning, 
and after meeting went to John and Ella Brown's, Florence 
Sharp's, Lizzie Brown and Rebecca Dale, Silas and Florence Rob- 
inson's, Martha and Rebecca Shumates, Edgar and Rowena Fries, 
Mary Jackson and her brother Joseph, Richmond and Mary Ellen 
Brown, and home with Jonah and Anna Rees for the night. 

nth. At Hopewell meeting this morning, and after meet- 
ing went home with B. F. Clevenger. In the afternoon B. F. 
Clevenger took us to William R. and Mary Smith's for the night. 



Travels in the Ministry 387 

12th. John Bond came for us this morning and took us to 
call on David and Belle Barrett, who had recently become mem- 
bers among us, then to Mary Hackney's to dine, called on Jacob 
and Ella Rees, then to J. Bond's for the night. 

13th. In the afternoon John and Ann Bond went with us to 
call on Elisan Brown and sister Catharine, and then to attend 
the Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and Elders at Hopewell, after 
which we went home with Charles Clevenger for the night. 

14th. Attended Fairfax Quarterly Meeting this morning at 
Winchester. This meeting had been changed from Hopewell to 
Winchester to avoid the ill-behaved crowd that sometimes 
gathered at Hopewell on First days. The meeting was well at- 
tended, and those present were deeply attentive to the message 
given, and it was felt that the change was very beneficial. 
Lunched at the meeting-house and attended the F. D. School 
exercises in the afternoon. These were very interesting and en- 
joyable. Went home with James and Sallie Robinson for the 
night. In the evening held a meeting in a union meeting-house 
near, and though there had been a heavy rain the meeting was 
well attended and proved to be a deeply baptizing season. 

15th. Attended the quarterly meeting for business to-day, 
which was to me a comforting meeting, though I had some close 
exercise. Went after meeting to Mamie Child's, then called on 
Arthur Robinson, and went to Hugh and Mary Lupton's for the 
night. 

16th. Visited at William T. Robinson's and James Stephen- 
son's to-day, and stayed the night with Jonathan Branson and his 
daughter and husband, J. H. and Tacy Doing. 

iyth. Came to an appointed meeting at the Ridge this morn- 
ing, calling on Dr. and Ethel Cochran on the way. Meeting 
well attended and satisfactory. Went home with James Robin- 
son to dine and to Josiah Robinson's to tea, and then James Robin- 
son took us to Back Creek or Gainsboro and we held an evening 
meeting in the Methodist house, which was well attended. Went 
home after meeting with Samuel and Mary Brown for the night. 



388 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

18th. Went this morning to Jonathan Jackson's and A. Budd 
Robinson and sister Margaret, both ill, he with a cancer and she 
from paralysis ; then to Joseph and Rebecca Robinson's to dine, 
after which we came to Winchester, where Daniel T. Wood met 
us and took us to his home for the night. 

ipth. Daniel T. Wood took us this morning to the new 
bridge over the Shenandoah River, where Thomas R. Smith met 
us and brought us to the home of A. Boone and Susanna Davis 
at Purcellville, where we remained for the night.. 

20th. Called on Barclay and Martha Lloyd, William and 
Elizabeth Wilson, Martha Hirst and the Hirst sisters, John and 
Agnes Gregg, and then to Ellen Smith's for the night. 

21st. At meeting at Lincoln this morning, which was large 
and satisfactory. Went home after meeting with Eliza Raw- 
son and then called on Margaret Hoge, Charles Davis and Fred 
Davis, Dr. and Louisa J. Roberts, Cornelia Janney and Jesse 
Brown, and then to an evening meeting at Lincoln, which was 
also well attended and satisfactory. After meeting went home 
with Elizabeth and Laura Gregg for the night. 

22d. Called on George and Ella Nichols, Thomas and Sally 
Piggott, Isaac and Mary Jane Piggott, Alice Pancoast, William 
H. and Martha Taylor, William and Mary Ann Shoemaker, and 
stayed the night with Eli and Elizabeth Nichols. 

23d. Called to-day on Phineas J. and Mary Ann Nichols, 
William and Lydia Brown, Nathan Brown, George Hoge, 
Mary and Henry Taylor, Walter and Rachel Smith, and then to 
Thomas R. and Ellen Smith's for the night. 

24th. Called to-day on Charles and Gulielma Hoge, Joshua 
and Nellie Brown, Henry and Cornelia Janney, Eliza 
Hoge, Daniel and Cornelia Hughes, George Holmes, Ann Eliza 
Logan, R. H. Brown, and then to Hugh R. Holmes and sisters, 
Lydia and Martha, for the night. 

25th. Were startled this morning by the intelligence of 
the sudden death of William Davis, whom we had left only a few 
days before in apparent good health. Went to the mid-week 



Travels in the Ministry 389 

meeting at Lincoln this morning, after which T. R. and Ellen 
Smith took us to Virginia Brown's to dine, and in the afternoon 
we called on Walter and Emma Brown, Mary Birdsall and her 
sister, M. Zeverly and William Birdsall, and then went to Charles 
and Louisa Nichols' for the night. 

26th. Called at Samuel Nichols', but did not find him 
at home, then on David Birdsall and daughters, Gertrude and 
Lillian, Fayette Welch, Edgar and Mary Greggs' to dine. In the 
afternoon attended the funeral of William Davis, a large meeting 
and a very impressive occasion. After the funeral called on 
Joshua Thatcher and then went to Joshua and Laura Smith's for 
the night. 

2ph. Henry and Laura Smith took us this morning to 
calf on Isaac Brown and to Samuel Brown's to dine, then to 
Obed and Elizabeth Pierpoint's, then to David Shafer's, and 
to Jacob Walker's, the home of our dear friend, Mary R. Williams 
for the night. 

28th. At meeting at Waterford this morning, after which we 
went home with Frank and Mary F. Steer. Then called on Charles 
and Ella Walker, Arthur and Lettie Phillips, and then to Robert 
K. Walker's for the night. 

29th. Called this morning on Colonel Chamberlain and 
family of eight children, the Colonel confined to his bed ; then on 
Milton Schooley, Elizabeth Phillips and Martha Sidwell, then to 
Sarah Walker's, Ella and Rachel Steer's for dinner. In the after- 
noon called on Virginia Mansfield and had a parlor meeting at 
Robert R. Walker's, where we remained for the night. 

30th. Left Waterford this morning en route for Dun- 
ning's Creek neighborhood, and went as far as Cumberland, 
where we were obliged to remain over night to make our railroad 
connections. 

31st. Went from Cumberland to Bedford this morning and 
were met by E. Howard Blackburn and taken to his hospitable 
home, and were warmly welcomed by him and his wife Delia, 
remained there through the day and held a parlor meeting in the 



390 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

evening, at which were many of other religious denominations and 
the message given was acknowledged by them as very satisfactory. 

Sixth month I. We came to Fishertown early this morning by 
rail and were met by Uriah Blackburn and were soon in his hos- 
pitable home, welcomed by his wife, Hannah. In the afternoon 
went to see Elizabeth P. Blackburn, a confirmed invalid, at the 
old home of Azariah Blackburn, in which we were cordially wel- 
comed by his daughters, Rebecca, Margaret and Anna. Remained 
the night at Uriah Blackburn's. 

2d. Called to-day on Charles Zeigler and Delia McCoy, 
Charles and Maria Cleaver, then Hiram Blackburn took us to 
Pleasantville to Thomas and Margaret Walker's, and we called 
on William and Ruth Anna Davis, and on Mark Miller and wife, 
and held a meeting in the Methodist house in the evening, and 
remained the night at Thomas Walker's. 

3d. Called to-day on Jason Blackburn and then attended the 
Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and Elders in the morning and 
the First day School Association in the evening, after which we 
went to Hiram and Mary Ann Blackburn's to tea and back to 
Uriah's for the night. 

4th. At meeting at Fishertown this morning; a large, atten- 
tive audience, which appeared to appreciate the message deliverd. 
Dined with Enoch Blackburn and daughters, Carrie and Sadie. 
In the afternoon called on Jacob McCreery and then to Elias 
Blackburn's to tea. Held another large and interesting meeting 
in the evening, prior to which we called on Florence Way and 
children. 

5th. At Center Quarterly Meeting to-day, after which we went 
home with William Dorsey and Lucretia M. Blackburn, and then 
went to Allen and Ardella Blackburn's to tea. Called after meet- 
ing on Jane and Mary Way, who belong to the other branch of 
Friends, and returned to Uriah Blackburn's for the night. 

6th. Hiram and Margaret Blackburn went with us to call on 
Maria Clayton, Catharine Way, Eli Griest and wife and mother, 



Travels in the Ministry 391 

Hannah Moore. In the afternoon called on Elizabeth P. Black- 
burn and had a meeting at Fishertown in the evening. 

ph. Called to-day on Thomas and Lydia Cleaver and Enos 
Blackburn and family, and went to Hiram Blackburn's to tea. 

8th. Left Fishertown this morning for Grampian, where we 
arrived about 6.30 p. rh., and were met by Reuben P. Kester and 
taken to his home, in which a warm welcome was given by him 
and his wife Myrtle. 

pth. Went with R. P. Kester and wife to the sixty-ninth anni- 
versary of the birth of Joseph Davis ; about one hundred and 
twenty present; a very enjoyable occasion. Then came to Lewis 
Kester's for the night. 

10th. Called this afternoon on Frank and Delia Duke, Abraham 
and Hannah Moore, Delia Moore, Anna Heetzenrather, then to 
George and Lida Underwood's for the night. 

nth. At meeting at Grampian this morning. A good-sized 
and appreciative audience greeted us. After meeting dined with 
Emlen Moore, In the afternoon attended the monthly meeting, 
and then went home with Reuben and Emmeline Underwood. 
Held another meeting in the evening, which like the morning 
meeting was very satisfactory. Stayed the night at Reuben 
Underwood's. 

12th. Called to-day on Ella and Mary Kester, Albert Kester 
and wife, Nelson and Rebecca Walker, Elisha and Elizabeth 
Davis' to dine. Then went to Edward and Mary Spencer's, 
William and Hannah Pentz, Truman and Jennie Davis, W 7 illiam 
Thorp, and James and Sidney Cleaver. 

13th. Called to-day on Matthew and Mary Johnson, Thomas 
and Lillian Wall, Thomas and Anna Way, Frank and Margaret 
Cleaver, Leroy Widemeyers, and then to Nora Kirk's. Held a 
meeting in the Methodist house in Lumber City in the evening; 
well attended and was felt to be an impressive occasion. Went 
home with James and Clara Wall. 

14th. Called to-day on Edwin and Mary Spencer, Andrew and 
Harriet Cleaver, Wilmot and Sarah Wall, Ellwood and Rebecca 



392 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Wall, John Ways, then to Ann Moore's, and to James D. Walls' 
for the night. 

15th. Called on Lavina Helper, Charles and Eva Walls, Sher- 
man and Eva Hoopes, William Welty and wife, Millard and Ida 
Wall, Elijah and Ann Wall, and to Reuben Kester's for the 
night. 

16th. Came to Curwensville this morning and went to David 
Way's to dine, calling on Harrison Spencer on the way. In the 
afternoon called on Isaac and Lydia Kester, then at Vincent Spen- 
cer's and Miles and Elizabeth Walls', and held a meeting in the 
Lutheran church in the evening and went to Thomas and Jane 
Moore's for the night. 

i/th: Left Curwensville for Port Matilda this morning and 
were met by Robert A. Way and taken to his hospitable home and 
were warmly welcomed by his wife, Lucretia, and their children. 

18th. At meeting at Center or Half Moon this morning and 
went home with Edwin and Martha Way. Held a meeting in the 
Methodist house in Stormtown in the evening. Came home in a 
heavy thunder storm, but did not get wet. 

ipth. Called on George and Hannah Fisher and R. Orlando 
and Mary Way and Susan Underwood. In the afternoon called 
on George Fisher and wife. 

20th. Went to Martha Ann Way's to dine, then called on John 
and Emma Way and Thomas and Mary Way, and home with 
R. A. Way for the night. 

21st. It rained nearly all the morning, so remained quietly at 
R. A. Way's. In the afternoon called on John Eves and wife and 
Samuel and Mary Eves and Florence Eves, and held a meeting 
in the Friends' meeting-house in the evening. 

22d. Rained most of the morning. In the afternoon Martha 
Way came for us and took us to call on Jeremiah and Mary Ann 
Way, she confined to the bed from a broken hip. 

23d. Left R. A. Way's this morning for Unionville and were 
met at the station by Martha Griest, wife of T. E. Griest, and 
taken to their home, where a warm welcome was given. 



Travels in the Ministry 393 

24th. Rained all the morning. In the afternoon went to 
Nancy Fisher's to tea, and back to T. E. Griest's for the night. 

25th. At the meeting in Unionville this morning, and dined at 
Owen Underwood's. Held another meeting in the afternoon. 
Both meetings were well attended and were satisfactory seasons. 
After the afternoon meeting called 011 Mamie Fisher, and re- 
turned to T. E. Griest's for the night. 

26th. Called this morning on Jennie Fisher and in the after- 
noon on Melissa Way and sister and Ezra Fisher and wife. 

2/th. Visited with Dr. Edward and Louisa A. W. Russell 
to-day and called on Mary Hughes. 

28th. This morning called on Dr. Irwin, wife and mother. 
In the afternoon T. E. and Martha Griest took us in their carriage 
to Bellefonte, to the home of Isaac and Martha Underwood. 

29th. Having completed our work in Center Quarter we left 
Bellefonte this morning to spend some time among my old friends 
and neighbors in Western New York and went as far as Canan- 
daigua, New York, where we remained for the night. 

During Seventh month we were in and around the town of 
Mendon, where I had resided for fifty years, and visited in Syra- 
cuse, Farmington, and Naples, N. Y., attended the meeting at 
Mendon, which was my home meeting for so many years, now 
very small. We were present on three First days and at these 
meetings from thirty to sixty of the neighbors came in. We also 
attended a meeting at South Farmington, where the meeting is 
kept up by the faithfulness of one friend. The day we were there 
the house was well filled and much expression of satisfaction was 
given. We also held a meeting in a school house in the town of 
Naples, near which my friends, Thomas J. and Emily Powell, 
live. This meeting was also well attended and thought to be a 
favored season. 

After leaving Mendon on the Ninth of Eighth month we visited 
some friends and connections in Rochester and Lockport and 
then went to the home of a long-loved friend, Mary T. Freeman, 
at Orchard Park, Erie county, N. Y. 



394 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

On First day, thirteenth, we attended two meetings in the 
Friend's meeting-house, the largest that have been held there for 
a number of years, and the testimonies delivered elicited many 
expressions of satisfaction from those assembled, many of whom 
were members of the different churches in the neighborhood. 

Seventh month 14. Went this morning to visit Andrew and 
Nellie Orvis, and in the afternoon Eliza Hampton came for us and 
took us to her home en route to a meeting to be held in a Meth- 
odist house at Springbrook. In this meeting I was led to open 
the views of Friends regarding the inner light and its relation 
to human needs, and it was apparently well received. Went home 
with Amos and Angie Wilson for the night, and the next morn- 
ing took the train for our home in Baltimore, where we arrived 
safely that evening. 

We remained at home until the Thirty-first of Eighth month, 
when we went to Rising Sun, en route to attend Nottingham 
Quarterly Meeting and the meetings and families belonging 
thereto, and were met by Edwin Buffington, and warmly wel- 
comed in his home by himself and wife Hannah. In the after- 
noon attended the Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and Elders at 
East Nottingham, returning to E. Buffington's for the night. 
Their children and several of their neighbors called in the even- 
ing and gave us a warm welcome. 

Ninth month 1. Attended the quarterly meeting at East Not- 
tingham in the morning and after lunch returned to Rising Sun 
and called on Charles and Eva Buffington, Sarah S. Buffington 
and Albert and Edna Buffington. 

2d. A rainy day and Eliza not feeling quite well. I called on 
Jonathan Reynolds, Ella and Emma Hunt, Edwin and Lydia Rey- 
nolds in the morning and on George Reynolds and wife in the 
afternoon. 

3d. Attended the meeting at Rising Sun this morning and a 
meeting of the Young Friends' Association in the afternoon, both 
satisfactory and profitable seasons. Took tea with Edwin and 
Lydia Reynolds, called on John and Eleanor Sterritt. 



Travels in the Ministry 395 

4th. E. Buffington went with us to call on Amanda Reynolds 
and then on Rebecca Reynolds and Elizabeth Lincoln to dine. Met 
with Sarah Carver from Philadelphia there. In the afternoon 
called on Martha J. Moore, with whom William M. Way and wife 
make their home, then on Philip West and wife, and he left us at 
Ellen Coates' for the night. 

5th. E. Buffington came for us this morning and took us to 
J. Belle Haines' to dine, and in the afternoon we called on Haines 
Jobes and then to Howard Brown's to tea, after which Howard 
took us to call on Myra Kirk and Charles Churchman and wife 
and William and May Sidwell, and then to his home for the 
night. 

6th. H. Brown took us this morning to call on Lavina Sidwell, 
William and Mary Wilson, Samuel and Mary Wilson and Ross 
and Hannah Wilson. In the afternoon Edward Kirk came for 
us and took us to call on Hannah Griffith, Susanna Reisler, James 
and Emmeline Lynch, Ruth Sidwell and Susan Reisler, and to 
Joseph T. and Elizabeth Reynolds' for the night. 

yth. J. T. Reynolds and wife took us to attend the Preparative 
Meeting at Oxford this morning and then to Chandler Pugh's, 
Howard Stubbs', Charles and Sarah Pugh's, Edwin and Clara 
Pugh's, William and Clara Powley, Isaac and Ella Woods, and 
then to Henry and Massey Wilson's to tea. After tea called on 
Walter Reynolds and family and William Freds, and then home 
with them for the night. 

8th. J. T Reynolds took us this morning to call on his son 
Elmer and wife Sophia, and then to Elizabeth Passmore's, in 
Oxford ; E. Passmore and Elizabeth Brinton went with us to 
call on Louis Lamborn, then to Jacob and Sallie Swayne, Boyce, 
and Ida Stubbs. In the afternoon called on James Lynch, 
Eva Wright, Mary Heald Way, Irene and Mary Coates, Emily 
Kirk, Priscilla Pickering, Hannah Wood and to Dr. Truman and 
Sarah Coates', where we held a parlor meeting in the evening. 



396 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

pth. E. Passmore and E. Brinton went with us this morning 
to Lincoln and called on Emmeline Brown and Emma Cope, M. 
Elizabeth Cope, and Hadley and Viola Kent, and Mary Mercer. 
In the afternoon called at John Smedleys, Martha Stubbs, Hannah 
Parry, Elizabeth Patterson, Priscilla Harlan, John Pugh, Ruth M., 
L. Emma and Dora Passmore, Susanna Pennock, Harry and Ella 
Thomas, Clara Pugh, George and Abbie Passmore, and Samuel 
and Mary Martindale and Hannah Passmore. 

10th. Attended the meeting at Oxford this morning. After 
meeting dined at John and Elizabeth Brinton's and after dinner 
Joseph T. Reynolds and Samuel Martindale took us to Eastland, 
where a large meeting gathered. Both meetings were deeply 
baptizing seasons and the messages delivered seemed to find ac- 
ceptance in many hearts. After meeting Alfred and Almira 
Wood took us to their hospitable home for the night. 

nth. Although it was quite a rainy day, yet in company with 
Alfred and Almira Wood we visited Cooley Giffings and family, 
who have not long been members ; Israel and Fanny Kirk, Vincent 
Reynolds, Jesse and Maggie Wood, and Robert and Hannah 
Wood, returning to A. Wood's for the night. 

1 2th. Called to-day upon Harry and Mary Bucknell, Mont- 
gomery, Jacob and Elmira Kirk, Louisa Reynolds, Isabel Smed- 
ley, Eliza Reynolds, Clinton and Elmira Way, and then to Joel 
Carter's to tea, and after tea called on Joel and Viola King, re- 
turning with Alfred Wood for the night. 

13th. Called to-day on James M. and Harriet Paxson, Stephen 
and Lydia Coates, Esther Webster, Aquilla Lamborn, James and 
Elizabeth Brown, and held a parlor meeting at Rebecca D. King's, 
and went to Lewis and Louella Wood's for the night. 

14th. Visited to-day Anna Eliza Reynolds and her brother 
Isaac Reynolds and wife, T. Ellwood and Susan Townsend, 
Lucretia Brabson, Howard and Ellen Coates and family, Esther 
Brabson, Moses and Eva Pownall, Alvin and Jane King, and went 
to Alfred Wood's for the night. 



Travels in the Ministry 397 

i$tk. Alfred Wood took us to Thomas Hamilton's, where Emma 
Penrose and Margaret McLaughlin met us. William and Cassie 
Bolton met us at William Brabson's, and from there we called 
on Amos and Lydia Smith, Enos Corrigan and wife, William 
Brosius, Abram Shoemaker and wife, Russell Ambler, Penrose 
Ruetter, C. Linnaeus and Amanda Lamborn, and then to Wilmer 
Bolton's for the night. In the evening Friend Emhart and wife 
came to meet us. 

16th. At Little Britain Monthly Meeting, held at Drumore this 
morning. In the afternoon called on Lizzie Emhart, Lukens Pen- 
rose and daughter, Martha McSparren and husband, Frank and 
Lucy Tennis, and Edward and Mary Ambler. 

iyth. Attended a large and satisfactory meeting at Penn Hill 
this morning, and went home with Neal and Sarah Hambleton. 
In the afternoon Fred and Mary Brown took us to call on Ellis 
Tollinger and family, Dora Spence, Charles and Lillie Gatchel, 
where we met Ferris and Ella Price, of Swarthmore, and then 
to their home for the night. 

18th, Went to Lewis and Mary Kirk's, Rachel Gatchel and 
Anna and Mary Good's this morning. In the afternoon called on 
Friend Kisinger and daughter, Mary Stubbs,Phebe Coffin, Friend 
Tollinger and Sarah Reynolds. 

ipth. Went this morning to Alfred and Ruth Ann Tyrrell's, 
John T. and Jennie Bicknell, Henry and Esther Haines, and in the 
afternoon visited Walter and Rebecca Bicknell, A. Cooper and 
Anna Stubbs, William and Jennie King, and then to Joseph and 
Cornelia Blackburn's, where we held a parlor meeting in the 
evening, largely attended, and where we remained for the night. 

20th. This day is my seventy-ninth birthday and was spent 
in active service, as R. Marion Gilmore came for us and took 
us to call on Samuel and Mary Kirk, Montilion Brown's nieces, 
Clara and Emma, and then to his home to call upon his wife, 
and then left us at Day and Lizzie Wood's, where F. Brown 
came for us in the afternoon and took us to visit Samuel and 



398 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Elizabeth Paxson and William and Alice Shoemaker, and home 
with him for the night. 

21st. Went this morning to call on Jacob Brown and daughter 
Mary, sister Mary Haviland, Slater and Lottie Brown, Albert 
Smedley, Franklin and Mary Pyle, Charles and Ellen Shoemaker, 
Leander and Leona Shoemaker, then to Albert Smedley's to tea. 
On our way to F. Brown's we passed the house in which Robert 
Fulton of steamboat fame was born. 

2 2d. F. Brown brought us over the Susquehanna River this 
morning to Albert Holloway's, wife Abby, and after dinner Albert 
took us to Samuel and Iris Holloway's, and the home of Rachel 
Mcllvaine, her sister, where we remained for the night. 

23d. Albert Holloway came for us this morning and took us 
to call on William and Susan Coale, Walter and Margaret Coale, 
Ruth, Hannah, and Tacy Mathews, and in the afternoon to call 
on William Holloway's family, and then to Ellis and Melissa 
Tucker's for the night. 

24th. At Deer Creek Meeting this morning. About forty pres- 
ent, and a favored season. W r ent home with Mary Harry, and 
James and Charles Harry and wife. In the afternoon had a large 
and deeply interesting meeting at Broad Creek, and as I was led 
to enlarge upon love, as the true badge of discipleship, it seemed 
to meet the witness in many minds. Went home with William G. 
McCoy for the night, and were kindly cared for by Jennie Rigdon 
and Emmeline Reynolds, his housekeepers. 

25th. Rachel Terrell went with us to-day to call on Charles 
and Sarah Jackson, then to John and Susan Stokes to dine. After 
dinner called on Hannah Husband and went home with Rachel 
for the night. 

26th. William McCoy and Rachel Terrell went with us this 
morning to call on William and Mary Pyle, Daniel Thomas, Anna 
Cox, William and Mary Scarborough, and then to William G. Mc- 
Coy's for the night. 

27th. Went this morning to call on David Clements, who had 
been severely hurt, and then Samuel and Mary Clements came 



Travels in the Ministry 399 

for us and took us to Benjamin and Rose Stubbs' for dinner, and 
in the afternoon to Delta, Pa., where we called on Sallie Neper, 
then went to Isaac and Anna Stubbs' for tea. Vincent G. Stubbs, 
Isaac's father, died soon after our arrival there. Went home 
with Samuel and Mary Clements for the night. 

28th. Samuel and Mary Clements took us this morning to call 
on Maria Brown and Elizabeth Allen and son, and Ezra Thomas 
and his wife Anna. After dinner to Sarah Vanzants, Sarah 
J. Marselter's, and then to Thomas and Hannah Brown's to tea, 
and called on Barclay Brown on our way to their home for the 
night. 

29th. Thomas J. Brooks came for us this morning and took us 
to call on Richard Vanzant, and then his wife Margaret, went with 
us to Nathan and Rachel Harry's to dine, and after dinner to 
call on Rachel L. Pyle and then returned to their home for the 
night. 

30th. Called this morning on Elisha and Fannie Thomas and 
Sarah Crawford, then to Isaac Stubbs for lunch, and in the after- 
noon attended the funeral of Vincent G. Stubbs, a very impressive 
occasion. He was a man well known and highly esteemed and 
a large number of the citizens of the town were present. 

Tenth month 1. Attended the meeting at Fawn Grove this 
morning; another large meeting and a very satisfactory season. 
Returned after meeting with S. and M. Clements, and in the after- 
noon went to the home of George and H. Jennie Eicholtz to tea, 
and then to Cambria to deliver a temperance address in the Meth- 
odist house at that place, but under the auspices of the Philan- 
thropic Committee of Deer Creek Monthly Meeting. 

2d. Having closed our work within the limits of Nottingham 
Quarterly Meeting we returned to our home to-day with sheaves 
of peace, feeling we had accomplished the labor assigned us 
to our own satisfaction, and we trust to the honor of God. We 
were everywhere received with much cordiality, and many ex- 
pressions of thankfulness that we had been among them, both in 



4oo Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

the social and religious way were given, affording us all the out- 
ward evidence needed that we were about our Master's work. 

After our return home we were somewhat closely occupied in 
the needed preparation for our approaching yearly meeting, which 
was held the latter part of the Tenth month, and the first two days 
of the Eleventh month. This was felt to be a refreshing season. 
Unity and harmony prevailed and nothing was elicited to break 
the harmony. This makes the one hundred and third yearly meet- 
ing it has been my privilege to attend. 

The week following the Yearly Meeting we attended the Quar- 
terly Meeting at Fallston, in Harford county, Md. On First day 
I had considerable service of a somewhat close nature from the 
text, " My people have committed two great evils, they have for- 
saken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out to them- 
selves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water," which 
seemed to leave a deep impression on many minds. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Essays and Sermons. 
No. i. — Written for Conference at Asbury Park in 1902. 

What is the greatest need of the Society of Friends ? 

In considering such a subject I am aware that there will be of 
necessity a variety of views offered, each of which will have some 
intrinsic value, and, that in consequence it may be difficult to 
decide which of them is the most important, so I desire it to be 
understood, that, while I have had a wide opportunity to ob- 
serve what may be considered defects in our system of organiza- 
tion I would by no means imply that the conclusions I have 
reached are the only correct ones. 

I would say first: We need more individual consecration of 
heart and life to our religious principles, and I mean by this, that 
while we all recognize that a consistent fidelity to the law and 
guidance of the Divine Spirit, as unfolded in each heart, is need- 
ful to be observed to conserve our happiness and peace as the 
individual, we are not always as thoughtful as we might be in 
the observance of the law from the same source in the direction of 
our actions towards and in the meetings, which are so necessary a 
part in the maintenance of our religious organizations. 

It is here that there is much need of improvement. Each mem- 
ber should consider himself or herself bound to do their part in 
the performance of the varied duties which are demanded to sus- 
tain the organization, each being willing to do such a part as they 
may be fitted for, in accordance with their experience and ability, 
first by a regular and steady attendance of the established meet- 
ings, being careful to so arrange their secular business where it is 

26 



402 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

possible so that it will not interfere with that which ought to be 
regarded as a solemn obligation. 

In the attendance of meetings for religious worship, to endeavor 
to realize that they have something to give, as well as to hope 
they will receive. This may be done by a reverent, devout con- 
centration of the mind upon the object for which such meetings 
are held, that of offering true worship to the Heavenly Father, 
by seeking to learn what He would have us do in the direction of 
our own lives, or in extending an uplifting influence over others, 
and seeking for a willingness to enter any service the Divine 
Spirit may call us into. 

In the disciplinary work of the Society, to be willing to give 
expression to the thought we have in relation to any business that 
may come before the meeting, always with the willingness to 
cheerfully submit our views to those of our brethren and sisters 
if they do not coincide with us. Being willing to accept such re- 
sponsibilities in carrying on the order of our organization, as our 
friends believe we are fitted for even while we feel our own 
inability, and not shrink from the responsibility the appointment 
imposes, yet, when our friends who are often the better judges 
of our fitness for the service, desire it, we should comply, and as 
we seek under a sincere consecration of heart the Divine guidance 
we will find the ability with His help to perform it, while we may 
in our own judgment have distrusted it. 

Such a consecration on the part of each member will lighten 
the burdens which are now often borne by the more willing mem- 
bers by dividing the responsibilities, and because of our interest 
aroused through the performance of the service make the labor 
lighter and tend to deepen our love for the organization. 

Secondly. We need more of the social intermingling among 
us. Under the present conditions of our social and business life 
we are apt to become so absorbed in our own interests, be they 
commercial or Ibr pleasure, that our time is so taken up that 
we overlook this social obligation, and are often unaware how 
powerful our influence for good would be to those less favored 



Essays and Sermons 403 

than ourselves, whose responsibility in caring for those dependent 
upon them leaves them less leisure than some of us who are 
more favored have at our command. The frequent interchange 
of these social calls often enlivens the overburdened heart and 
brings a cheer which enables them to bear their burdens with less 
of suffering, and I do not know of any one thing that has a 
greater tendency to keep alive and strengthen the bond of religious 
fellowship and encourage to a faithful maintenance of our testi- 
monies more than this social relationship. By it we manifest the 
real love we have for and interest we take in our associate mem- 
bership. 

I am aware, that to carry out this idea, it will demand on the 
part of the many of us much sacrifice of selfish interests, but the 
compensation is so ample that we will find ourselves well repaid 
for all it may cost us. Some of us know well how much the heart- 
felt sympathy extended to us amid the sorrows and other difficul- 
ties with which our lives have been saddened, has done to uplift, 
cheer, and encourage to renewed efforts. And this to me is one of 
the great objects of our religious organization, to be mutual 
helpers and encouragers of one another, in serving our Divine 
Master through our faithful performance of all of life's duties that 
belong to us individually, and to aid us in being helpers of each 
other. By such a manifestation of mutual interests through this 
frequent social mingling and uplifting help, we will manifest to 
the world around us, with whom we commingle, that our simple 
form of worship, our ideals of duty under the direction of the 
Divine through the light of Christ within the soul, without any 
ritualistic form or a c< remonious profession of religion, meets 
the needs of human life, aids each other in overcoming the tempta- 
tions that beset us, come they from what source they may, puri- 
fies and sweetens our life here, and gives the soul the sustaining 
assurance of a welcome in the abodes of the blest when our life's 
fitful season on earth shall close. 

Thus the life of each member so consecrated becomes a living 
witnesss, not only to the truth of the basal principle of our So- 



404 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

ciety, but to its beneficial effects upon the human family, and will 
lead to a seeking on the part of those outside our fold tounderstand 
the source from which a life so manifesting its relation to the 
Divine by its loving interest in its fellows derives its power and 
strength. 

In the pursuance of the service I have felt required of me dur- 
ing the past year, in this social intermingling with Friends, in 
looking up those unable by invalidism to mingle with their friends 
in meeting, and visiting those who appear to be lukewarm in their 
interest for the Society, I have been more than ever convinced that 
this frequent social commingling is one of the greatest needs to 
rightly carry forward the work of the Society. By this means we 
may exert a powerful influence to allay any jealousies that some- 
times arise, and which are made the excuse for not more steadily 
attending the meeting, and the feelings by which we sometimes 
misjudge the motives of those who differ from us in judgment, 
would be corrected and allayed, as we come to understand each 
other better, and thus the harmony of the body, as a whole be 
maintained, and through these means be rendered more attractive 
to those who are seeking a religious home, and thus induce them 
to connect themselves with us. 

Thirdly. We need a more consecrated ministry that is capable 
of presenting our fundamental principles in a clear, connected, 
logical manner, which at the same time will carry with it an 
evidence of its true and deep spiritual dependence upon the Divine 
Spirit for its authority. 

In this day of high and general intellectual culture, or education, 
a rambling, disconnected discourse without point or logical con- 
clusion tends to discourage rather than encourage an entrance into 
our Society, and while I make this statement I am fully conscious 
of the diversity of gifts and of conditions to be met in our relig- 
ious assemblies, yet I am a firm believer that our God is a God 
of order, and when He gives a servant a message to deliver, it is 
the duty of that servant to fit himself or herself to deliver it so 
that it may be understood, and attract to us rather than repel 



Essays and Sermons 405 

from us. We want to rid ourselves of the thought that under 
Divine inspiration God gives the minister every word he or she is 
to deliver, for I have not found this to be true, and I believe 
because of a supposed reliance upon it many a right message has 
failed of its intended effect through its improper delivery. 

The truth as I understand it, is, that when the Divine Spirit 
reveals to the chosen instrument the message to be delivered, He 
gives the thought or truth to be spoken, and the minister expresses 
it in the manner or language he is accustomed to use. If educated, 
to deliver his thought in a clear, connected and logical manner, it 
will be so delivered, but if not so educated it will often be given 
in a rambling, disconnected manner and thus fail to meet the con- 
dition for which it was intended ; so I believe one of the great 
needs of the Society is a more cultured ministry, but one that does 
not depend upon intellectuality for its authority or direction, but 
only for its manner of expression, and whose dependence for its 
message and guidance and power upon its close spiritual connec- 
tion upon the Divine Christ within the soul, a ministry that evi- 
dences that it comes not from the head but from the heart. Such 
a ministry will appeal to the heart, or affections and will bear the 
evidence of its Divine authority, and will reach and touch the 
better feelings of the hearers, and tend to draw them to the source 
from whence it had its origin. This does not necessarily imply 
that all those called to such a ministry will be of equal power or 
influence. A few words, clearly and fitly expressed, may reach 
some hearts that might not be fed by a longer and more doctrinal 
discourse. While there are those who may have a special mission 
to make plain the principles we regard so vitally important for 
the welfare of man, and hence may have a more extended mission 
than others, yet these need the same reliance as those who have 
the lesser one. 

There is need, too, when any give evidence of having received 
such gift of the larger mission, when under an evidence of the 
Divine requirement they may be called to go outside of our or- 
ganization, to bear testimony to others of the truths of the 



406 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

simple religion we have embraced, that some means shall be 
devised so that they shall not while thus laboring in the interest 
of and for the benefit of the Society at large, bear all the financial 
burden that in this day such a service imposes. I do not feel my- 
self able to suggest such a plan as can be carried out unostenta- 
tiously and without compromising our vital principles or the feel- 
ings of the minister himself, or which may avoid arousing the 
jealousy of those who may not have such a service required. Nor 
do I feel that it would become me, in my position, to make such 
a suggestion if I could, but I hope in the wisdom that may be 
granted you in your deliberations you may be wisely led in reach- 
ing your conclusions in so important a matter. 

John J. Cornell. 

No. 2. — " Conscience and the Inner Light." 

I understand that the conscience is the standard by which each 
man judges for himself what is right or wrong for him to do, 
such standard being formed from the evidences which come to 
him, either from traditionary teaching, or from the direct revela- 
tion of the Divine Spirit which is the Inner Light enlightening 
the mind of man by impressions made upon his inner conscious- 
ness. It shows him what would be in the Divine sight right for 
him to do or leave undone, and by this means the conscience be- 
comes enlightened by the Inner Light, but is not that light itself. 
It is the effect of that light upon the mind of the man. 

The first standard of right or wrong which we form is the result 
of our education and environment, that which we are taught by 
our parents, guardians, or teachers, or by our contact with our 
fellow men, by observing how they conduct themselves in their 
intercourse with each other. But when we are enlightened by 
the Divine Spirit or Inner Light our standard of right and wrong- 
will be such as to meet the highest ideal of men in meeting Divine 
approval, whether it accords with our previous education or not. 
Under the educated conscience, as received from the source indi- 
cated, we make our standard of right and wrong conform to that 



Essays and Sermons 407 

instruction. Under the enlightenment of the Inner Light we 
make it conform to the revelations received from this source and 
this may or may not conform to the traditions received through 
our education. Perhaps the best illustration of the distinction I 
have endeavored to make is found in the life of the Apostle Paul. 

Paul, educated by Gamaliel, was learned in the Jewish laws and 
traditions and the plain, simple, ethical teachings of Jesus came 
in direct conflict with those teachings. He, under the standard 
of right and wrong, had formed from and through his educa- 
tion, verily believed he was doing God's service in standing 
by and seeing Stephen stoned to death without raising any pro- 
test, and by persecuting the Christians. But when he was met 
by the Divine Spirit, the Inner Light, which was above the bright- 
ness of the sun at noonday, he, by that illumination, was given 
to see that his standard of right was incorrect and that another 
course of life was demanded of him. His standard would no 
longer admit of his persecuting the Christians, but required that 
he should espouse their cause and become one of its most earnest 
advocates. 

So that instead of the Conscience and the Inner Light being 
identically the same, the Inner Light is the revealer to the human 
soul of what the standard of judgment should be, and the con- 
science is the standard formed by obedience to the illumination of 
the Inner Light. 

It may be asked that, if this be true, why does not this Inner 
Light require of each, into whose heart it shines, the same duties 
and requirements. To this may be answered, aside from the 
moral duties which it requires all to obey, its demands are in 
accordance with the nature and environment of different minds 
and their capacity to receive and observe — just as the light of the 
outward sun with its concomitant heat has a different influence 
on material things in accordance with their composition, as it 
softens wax and hardens clay. So the Inner Light makes re- 
quirements in accordance with temperaments and capacities, all 
tending however to the same end, that of blessing the individual 
life by doing good to and for others. 



408 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 



Sermon Delivered by John J. Cornell on First-day Evening, 

ioth Month 29, 1905. 

Perhaps there is no subject that is of more vital importance or 
in which we have a deeper interest than that of man's salvation, 
nor is there one upon which there is a wider divergence of 
opinions, and it seems to be my duty this evening to consider it 
from the standpoint of the Evangelical Church and that of the 
Friend as I understand them. I differ from the evangelical idea 
in four points in particular and which are considered cardinal with 
them. 

First is that of the Trinity, or three Gods in one God, which is 
to me mysterious, incomprehensible, and unable to be understood. 
In the new revision of the Bible the text, " There are three which 
bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy 
Ghost or Spirit," has been eliminated, it having been found not to 
be in the original text, but an interpolation of some monk in the 
nth century, and hence not reliable as the original Scripture, and 
yet I recognize these three as attributes of God. The Father rep- 
resenting the creative power of God. The Word as that attribute 
of the Divine by which He holds communion with man and 
through which He reveals to man by impressions on his inner 
consciousness a knowledge of the duties He may require of him 
to perform, and that knowledge of Himself and His relations to 
man needful for the man to know. The Holy Ghost or Spirit is 
that attribute of Deity which rewards man for his obedience to 
duty and the consecration of his life to the Divine service. Such 
a Trinity is not incompatible with reason and does not appeal to 
human credulity for its acceptance. 



Essays and Sermons 409 

Second. According to the definition given by the Young Men's 
Christian Association, to be evangelical, one must believe in the 
infallibility of the Bible, to which I cannot subscribe. Some thirty- 
five years ago, as I was sitting in my home one evening absorbed 
in meditation, there came to me suddenly, like a flash of lightning 
from a clear sky, a revelation such as some of you know have 
been made to me in a remarkable manner, in which I heard with 
my mental ear this : " If thee ever finds the original manuscripts 
of the Bible thee will not find the first two chapters of Matthew 
and Luke in them." To say I was startled but faintly expresses 
my feelings v but so clear was the impression I could not doubt 
though I had no means of confirming it. Nor was it until during 
the summer of 1900 that I was able to obtain any such confirma- 
tion. I then met with a work by Emma Hardinge Brittain, in 
which she gives description of thirty-two different religious sects 
who have the same mythology that their Avator or Saviour had 
been miraculously conceived and born of a virgin, and some two 
or three years afterward I found in the Literary Digest an article 
from a work published by Harnack, the great German Biblical 
scholar, in which he said unqualifiedly that the two chapters of 
Matthew and of Luke which refer to the genealogy and miracul- 
ous conception and birth of Jesus were not in the original manu- 
scripts, but had been interpolated therein by the Romish priests 
in the fifth century to make it conform to the mythology of the 
Asiatic religions, and thus I found the revelation of thirty years 
previous confirmed. Again, when I read the account of Jesus 
coming to the fig tree and not finding any fruit thereon, though it 
was not the time of year for it to bear, that he cursed it because it 
had no fruit upon it. This is so in contradiction to almost all his 
other teachings and the character of his life that I cannot believe 
but there has been a mistake in the translation or in the under- 
standing of the writer. Again, when I read the text, "If any 
man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father and mother, 
and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea and his own 
life also, he cannot be my disciple " (Luke 14: 26), it seems to be 



4io Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

so inconsistent with nearly all his former teaching that I must 
conclude some mistake has been made either in translation or in 
understanding what Jesus did say. Such errors as these, with 
the strong conviction, the revelation before referred to, make the 
idea of an infallible Bible for me at once inconsistent and im- 
proper. 

Third. The statement as to what constitutes a believer in the 
Christian religion from the evangelical standpoint is, one must 
believe in Jesus Christ as the saviour of the world who became 
sin for us, or as Paul put it, " Him who knew no sin, He made to 
be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of 
God in him." This to me is inconsistent, incongruous, and irra- 
tional from the standpoint of the Evangelical Church itself, for it 
involves the idea that Jesus Christ, one of the parts of the Triune 
God, did controvert the law of God, as it could only be by the 
transgression of law that He could sin, and yet He was without 
sin. I therefore cannot accept this thought as truth, nor as having 
any effect upon man's salvation. I look upon Jesus as the Mes- 
siah or Anointed of God to bring to the Jews and through them 
to mankind in general a higher dispensation and a clearer knowl- 
edge of God than had prevailed in the world prior to his coming, 
but Jesus the man was not and is not the Saviour, but Christ the 
Spirit incarnated in Jesus and in every other man since and before 
his day, was and is the Saviour, and this Christ was not born of 
woman nor crucified by man. 

Fourth. In the statement of the Young Men's Christian Assoc- 
iation, " A belief in the atonement made by Jesus through his 
death by crucifixion on Mount Calvary." This to me involves the 
thought that when a soul passes from this mortal life, at some time 
in the future, at the judgment day, it is to appear before the 
throne of God, who sits thereon as a stern, unrelenting judge, 
while at his right hand sits Jesus, and at his left the recording 
angel with the book of life as presenting the acts of the soul when 
in the human life, and Jesus interceding with the Father to pardon 
the sinner because of the atonement he made by his death on 



Essays and Sermons 411 

Mount Calvary, and as He is successful in his plea, the soul is to 
be admitted into heavenly joy. With such a thought comes an- 
other. What kind of a Heaven can that be to a conscious soul 
which knows it is not worthy and can only claim an entrance there- 
in through the suffering and atonement made by another and inno- 
cent party. To me this is irrational and falls far short of our 
real needs. I look upon the crucifixion of Jesus as an atrocious 
and wilful murder brought about by the jealousies and machina- 
tions of the high priests in instigating the mob to influence the 
Roman authorities to put him to death, and in no wise the plan and 
direction of the Divine Mind, though permitted as many untoward 
events in human life have ever been permitted. In this presenta- 
tion of what I understand of the method and result of man's sal- 
vation from the evangelical standpoint I am not actuated by any 
spirit of controversy, but to bring in stronger contrast what seems 
to me to be a more simple, consistent, and rational method, and 
one which just as effectually accomplishes the result desired. 

The methods which I have thus described look to the accom- 
plishment of a salvation in another life from the effects of sin and 
transgression in the present life, the ultimate goal of which is 
being saved from being cast into eternal torment in the future life. 
But I regard the salvation which is more important for man to 
experience as a preservation from the commission of wrong and 
omission to do the right in this present life, and to aid man in 
reaching such a salvation God sends His Son or Grace or Christ 
into each human soul that will receive it, and through that Son 
will reveal to the man what he ought to do and ought to leave 
undone. And as the man obeys the direction or counsel of this 
Christ it becomes to him his Saviour, and will preserve him from 
the commission of wrong or sin and encourage and aid him in 
doing the right. This does not involve the idea that all men must 
do the same thing, or that all will be required to abstain from 
the same course of action, but its revelations are made to each 
one in accordance with his capacity to receive, his education, and 
environment. Its first office is to enable the man to deny self by 



412 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

obtaining such a control over his appetites, passions, desires, and 
inclinations, from which his temptations come, as said the Apostle 
James, " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of 
God, for God cannot be tempted, neither tempteth He any man ; 
but when ye are tempted ye are drawn away of your own lusts," 
etc., as to abilitate him to use them as God designed they should 
be used, to enable him to perform the functions of human life, and 
secondly to aid, direct, and sustain him in such duties as may be 
required in extending an influence over his fellow-men for their 
good, or to assist them in so yielding to the Divine Director as 
to enable them to overcome all the temptations they may meet. 
Such a preservation or salvation as this keeps the human in har- 
mony with the Divine, assures the growth of the soul life, keeps 
man from undue excesses of conduct, preserves his integrity and 
uprightness in all his relations with others, and thus contributes 
to his real happiness in this life, and, as he continues to be guided 
by this Divine Spirit or Christ within him, it will bring him all the 
assurance he can possibly need that when to him life's fitful 
season shall close there awaits him a glorious welcome in the 
Father's Kingdom; for having, by obedience to the Divine law, 
been preserved from the commission of wrong, and the omission 
to do the right, he will have no sin to be absolved from in the 
future life, and hence there will be no need in that future life for 
any intercession with the Father to receive the soul into the rest 
prepared for the righteous. 

But there is another phase of this subject of salvation which 
must not be overlooked, and that is in regard to those who from 
inadvertence, unwatchfulness, or wilfulness disregard or disobey 
the impressions made on the inner consciousness by the Divine 
Spirit. For this course of conduct there is a penalty attached 
which, when suffered long enough to bring about a true repent- 
ance, will atone for the sin committed and place us again under 
the direction of the Divine Spirit so as to realize being preserved 
in the future. This was testified to by the prophet Isaiah, when 
he said : " Put away the evil of your doing from before mine eyes. 



Essays and Sermons 413 

Cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the 
oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come let 
us reason together saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scar- 
let, they shall be as snow; though they be red like crimson, they 
shall be as wool." In this is clearly indicated the atonement to be 
made for sin and transgression, and so far as my own experience 
and observation goes, I have not found that there are any other 
terms by which the stains of sin can be erased from the soul. No 
amount or form of belief in any atonement made by another for 
us can accomplish such a result. Man may accept the belief that 
the death of Jesus upon the cross will furnish the needed atone- 
ment for his sins, and yet keep on in the same course of life. It 
does not follow that by the acceptance of such a belief true repent- 
ance and amendment of life will be the result, as the evidence is 
abundant everywhere around us in the conduct of those who ac- 
cept that idea and profess to be Christians, but no man can be 
obedient to the unfoldings of this Inner Light or Christ within the 
soul, without its being evidenced in the control of his life, by 
making him just and upright in his business life, loving and self- 
sacrificing in his home, loving and tolerant in his religious feeling 
towards others who differ from him, and preserving him in all 
forms in the living a true, moral, and religious life. While you 
may go into the dens of vice and ask its inmates what is their idea 
of salvation, and if they give any answer they will tell you it will 
come through a belief in the atonement made by Jesus on the 
cross. If you go into our prisons and ask the inmates, in- 
carcerated there for crime, a similar question, you will receive a 
similar answer. If you go into our legislative halls and ask the 
legislator whose hand is stained with bribes a similar question, 
you will get a similar answer — but find if you can, one whose life 
is governed by, and in accordance with the directions of the 
Divine Spirit as made by its impression on the inner consciousness, 
who is a habitue of a den of vice, or incarcerated within prison 
walls for crime, or whose hand is stained with bribes. 



414 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

OTHER SERMONS. 

THE ONE FAITH. 

" There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one 
hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and 
Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. But unto each 
one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of 
Christ."— Ep h. 4: 5-7. 

In this language of Paul, written to the Church of Ephesus, 
we find a strong and clear testimony to the unity of God, and the 
possibility of the unity of those who are obedient to Him in one 
bond. If Paul had been living in our day and had uttered for the 
first time these expressions, he would have been regarded by one 
class of Christians as a heretic, and subjected to the charge of 
unitarianism and of denying the divinity of Christ, because he 
recognizes but one God, and does not divide him into a Trinity, 
but recognizes God as a Spirit and not as a person. " There is 
one body and one Spirit," had reference to the union of the Divine 
with individuals, composing the church into one common bond. 
He did not, in any of these expressions, portray the necessity of 
seeing eye to eye in all things in the recognition of the one Spirit. 

Those who have studied carefully the history of the Jewish 
people as recorded in the Old Testament, if they have been seek- 
ing for truth rather than for the substantiation of dogma, have 
found throughout it the prophets and patriarchs bearing testimony 
to the one God; frequently exhorting the people to beware of 
idolatry, expressing themselves in such language as, " I am a 
jealous God;" " I am the Lord thy God, and thou shalt have no 
other gods before me," and so on all through very many of the 
testimonies. 

Paul was educated with this conviction, under this line of 
thought, and he does not seem, in the language I have quoted, 
to have embraced the ideas of the Trinity which are regarded by 
so many in the Church as an important part of their belief. This 



Essays and Sermons 415 

passage indicates his belief that there is but one Lord and but one 
God, Lord and God being different titles given to represent the 
same over-ruling creative power, thus recognizing differences in 
the operation of the Spirit of God upon the family of man, and 
that it is yet one in purpose, as well as one in effect. The Scrip- 
tural grounds for the doctrine of the Trinity are slight. It rests 
largely upon two texts, — first, the command recorded as given by 
Jesus in His appearance to the people after His crucifixion : " Go 
ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them 
into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy 
Ghost ;" and second, the passage in the first Epistle of John [old 
version] , which is an interpolation of a French monk in the twelfth 
century : " There are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, 
the Word, and the Holy Ghost." Upon these two expressions is 
largely based the incomprehensible idea of a Trinity of Gods — 
that there are three Gods and yet one God, three persons and yet 
one personality ; — a mystery which the human mind is unable even 
to conceive. 

There is no process of reasoning with which I am acquainted 
that can bring to my mind a conviction that there can be a possi- 
bility of three distinct Fathers, and yet one Father. I can and do 
recognize a Trinity of attributes in God, and that in His manifesta- 
tions to men we seem to be obliged to give different titles to that 
operation. We speak of God, the Father, the Son or Word, and 
of the Holy Ghost, as being one and inseparable ; which is true, 
yet these terms only represent these different attributes of the 
Deity, or the different forms, in which He has manifested Himself 
in the past, and does manifest Himself to-day. God and Father 
are the terms used to represent the Great Creator, the source 
of all life, the author and designer of everything material or 
spiritual ; we speak of Him as being the Father because from 
Him comes all spiritual life ; He is to us, in that sense, our 
Father, so far as regards our spiritual life, for He is the gen- 
erator of that life. Yet the Word or Son is the form in which 
He holds communion or communication between this soul, this 



416 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

child of His, and Himself as the Father. The Holy Ghost or 
Holy Spirit represent that condition of experience which is the 
result of obedience by us to the directions of the Father, in which 
we become immersed in, overshadowed by or baptized into the 
same spirit or soul, and likewise into the same nature. It is in 
this sense that I understand the language of Jesus, when He 
prayed for his disciples : " that they may all be one ; even as thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us/' — 
not one as God, but one in unity of purpose, conviction, and in- 
terest. 

The human mind cannot grasp the idea of three distinct gods 
working with one purpose as one God, nor is it necessary ; nor did 
Paul attempt to inculcate that idea, but to present if possible still 
more clearly the truth in which the Jewish people had ever been 
educated, and which the revelations made to their prophets had 
evidenced, that there was but one God. 

Then comes the one faith. There can be but one faith, beloved 
Friends, if we come down to the meaning of faith. We are very 
apt to confound the term faith with belief. There may be a 
variety of beliefs, but one faith. A man may believe many things, 
but have no faith in them. He may believe in God, and have no 
faith in Him. There are many doctrines that he may believe, 
which he has been taught, and yet have no faith in them; for the 
faith that is the evidence of things not seen, and the substance 
of things hoped for, is best expressed as such a confidence in 
God, and in the revelations which he makes to the individual soul, 
that we become willing to be obedient to Him ; willing to make our 
lives practically such as God directs they should be. There can be 
no two faiths in God ; no two or three lines of confidence in God ; 
no two things that are in this way the evidence of things not seen 
and the substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things 
not seen in the fact that we have confidence that what the Lord re- 
quires of us will be best for us ; this is not seen by us with the hu- 
man eye or with the human judgment. We cannot in our finiteness 
know what is to be the result of any course of life that we shall pur- 



Essays and Sermons 417 

sue in accordance with the Divine direction, or what may be the 
purposes God has in view in making the requisition of us, either for 
ourselves or for others ; but we have evidence sufficient for us in the 
confidence we have in God as the Father and great Ruler of all, — 
that if we follow his directions it will be best for us. It is the 
substance of things hoped for because we are hoping through that 
obedience (and as strengthened by the convictions of our ex- 
perience), that if we are true to what God thus enfolds to us and 
requires of us, it will bring this happiness to us ; will bring us so 
to live in harmony with the Divine Law as to gain us an entrance 
into Heaven, — Heaven here as well as Heaven hereafter. 

Differ widely as we may in relation to our line of religious 
thought, or the specific duties that so often are required of us, we 
may all have this one faith, this one confidence in God, and as each 
of us, under this confidence and faith, is obedient to what He 
directs, despite all the diversities of duties that may be required 
of us and the differences of our environments, we shall neverthe- 
less gather from that obedience the result the Lord intends us to 
receive. We may see from this point of view that the platform 
is a very broad one upon which the whole human family may 
stand. 

Paul had, I think, a clear conviction of this, from the fact that 
he believed the larger portion of his mission was to the Gentile 
races, while some of the other apostles thought their mission lay 
entirely with the Jewish people. Peter, for instance, required 
what might be termed almost a miracle to convince his judgment 
that God was no respecter of persons, but in every nation they 
that worked righteousness, that loved God, or feared God, as the 
expression is, — feared God and worked righteousness, — were ac- 
cepted of Him ; or, in other words, that in every nation they who 
had this one faith in God and through God, by which they were 
able to be true to their highest convictions, would be accepted. So 
we see that Paul had in the beginning, through the revelations of 
light to his mind at his conversion, a larger view than that of the 
earlier disciples. And the experience of men from that day to the 

27 



418 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

present, when they have been willing to break out from the 
bias of sectarian prejudices, and to recognize the fact that there 
is the one body and the one Spirit, the one Lord and the one 
faith, has been, with Paul, that there may be diversities of gifts 
but the same Lord, differences of administration but the same 
Spirit, diversity of operation, but the same God working in all. 

It is important, I believe, beloved Friends, in this day of large 
inquiry and of earnest scientific investigation, that we should more 
clearly perceive how much better, how much stronger, would be 
the bond of unity could we realize this larger charity or larger 
truth, that God adapts Himself to meet the condition of every 
spiritual state among the family of men ; that He is the one Lord 
omnipresent, as well as omnipotent and omniscient; and that 
through the one faith in Him there may be realized acceptance 
with Him, and the substance of what we are hoping for, — an 
entrance into a heavenly state, whether here or hereafter. 

This naturally includes the idea that there is one baptism that is 
essentially spiritual. It is recorded that Paul said he thanked 
God he had baptized but a few (in the sense in which that term 
is generally used, to include immersion in or sprinkling with 
water). The term baptism, — the one baptism, — means, if I have 
a correct understanding of it, an immersion or baptism into the 
spiritual nature of the divine, — into that oneness of which I have 
been speaking. We see that this cannot be otherwise when we 
come to realize the fact that there is but one true faith in all the 
multitudinous forms of belief. The result of the conviction rest- 
ing upon the Spirit, that " there is but the one God and the one 
Lord, the Father of all, who is over all, through all and in you 
all," making him not a Father of personal character, in a form 
like these forms, as is sometimes taught, but recognizing Him as 
a Spirit pervading all the workmanship of His nature, as described 
in that beautiful figurative language, " As a Being whose centre 
is everywhere ; whose circumference is nowhere," thus expressing 
this universal character, — the result of this conviction is that in 
every heart or soul that realizes this one faith, there arises the 



Essays and Sermons 419 

feeling that leads it to surrender the government of life to His di- 
rection, and become baptized into the one spirit, recognizing the 
universal covering of the Divine Spirit, the universal government 
of that Spirit, and so moulding the life and regulating the conduct 
as to bring it into harmony with Him, and into that heavenly state 
that I before referred to, both in the present and the eternal life. 
John substantiates this thought in that beautiful description of 
the sight of " the great multitude surrounding the throne of God." 
They were not those that believed in this or that doctrine or idea ; 
they were not those who simply were raised in this or that church, 
but they were those that had passed through great tribulation, and 
had come from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, whose 
robes were washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb ; — all 
expressive figures of the universality of the love of God as the 
one Father gathering His children from all nations, from every 
tongue, from every people; those who had passed through great 
tribulation, — not meaning by that term simply the vicissitudes in- 
cident to human life, but that struggle of soul, that conflict of 
spirit, by which we come into the full possession of this one faith ; 
the conflicts through which we pass to control the natural desires 
of human nature, and to bring these under the direction and 
government of the divine. When these desires are thus brought 
under the direction of the Divine Spirit, then shall we become of 
that number who may surround the throne of God. Nor is it 
requisite that we shall wait until the spirit shall be disembodied 
before we may know and realize this state of experience, for the 
throne of God is set up in every heart, and through the one faith 
that yields obedience to His government, and under all the dif- 
ferent forms of worship, the different names by which people are 
called, and their different ideas of Deity and of duties, each 
soul that is honestly doing that work which appears to it as 
necessary, that by self-abnegation, by control of the natural man, 
does the best it knows how, is near the throne of God ; it is under 
the government of God, though it may differ widely from some 
other soul equally under the same government. This is what I 



420 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

understand is meant by the one baptism, the one government, in- 
cluding in the operations of the one Spirit all of these diversities. 
And I believe it would have been far better for mankind if in 
the earlier ages of the Christian Church this fact could have been 
recognized. It would have saved the spilling of so much blood ; 
it would have kept men from becoming such bitter persecutors ; it 
would have enlarged more rapidly the boundaries of the religion 
of Christ ; it would have drawn men into a closer bond of love and 
unity ; it would have kept them from the many contentions which 
have marked the Christian era, and would long ere this have wiped 
out from the earth the scourge of war. 

Paul then goes a little further in this lesson (to me it is a beauti- 
ful one) : " But unto each of us is given grace according to the 
measure of the gift of Christ." This is, as I understand it, a 
parallelism, — that the work we have to do is in accordance with 
the powers with which we are endowed. The object the Lord 
has in making of us an instrument in His hands for the purpose 
of our preservation, our being kept in harmony with Him, is that 
grace is given according to our measure, as the grace was given 
to Jesus according to His measure, in His fullness. 

We do not have need then to go to our brother man to know 
what is the individual line of work needful for us to follow. We 
do not have, in this day, to go to a brother to ask the question, 
" Know ye the Lord ? " We do not have to go to a brother, 
however deeply he may be experienced in religious life, to learn 
what is needful for us to know of the requirements of God, for, 
as Paul declares it, He is not only the Father of us all, but He is 
over all, through all, and in all. He is in us to-day by His grace ; 
that grace is God; it is a name implying the gift of the Spirit, 
the manner and means of instruction, — that which enlightens our 
understanding, and opens to our spiritual vision all that it is need- 
ful for us to understand of God's requirements. We call it 
grace, or we call it Christ; we call it the Son, or we call it the 
Word ; — it has the same significance : — that attribute of Deity 
which communicates to the soul or the spiritual nature of man. 



Essays and Sermons 421 

The one power in man that can fully comprehend the nature and 
character of these indications is grace, is Christ. Paul in writing 
to Titus uses the expression, " The grace of God which bringeth 
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching the denying of all 
ungodliness and the world's lusts; that we should live soberly, 
righteously, and godly in this present world." If it be true that 
this grace hath appeared to all men, if there be but one Lord, one 
faith, and one baptism, which faith and baptism are the result 
of the gift of this grace; that as we, through faith in it, as Paul 
said in another place in writing to the Romans, may and will be 
saved, and that salvation to us is a present one; its entire object is 
to keep us while in life from entering into a course of action from 
which there shall come to ourselves, or to others through our 
influence, that which will injure us or them, destroy our heaven, 
and prevent us from surrounding the throne. 

In order to reach these conditions we have to pass through 
tribulations, because the powers of the man are continually assert- 
ing themselves ; they need to be constantly watched, and that is 
why the gift of God's grace comes to each one of us. It is not 
to those only who are called to the work of the ministry. That 
grace was given in the past not only to the prophets and patri- 
archs, but to others that were equally obedient, — as Paul testified, 
" It hath appeared to all men." And He appears to all men to- 
day; we are not simply dependent upon the revelations of that 
grace made to men in the past for the knowledge of the duties of 
to-day, or for the means to come under that one baptism, power, 
and influence of the Holy Spirit. God is the same yesterday, to- 
day, and forever. There is no change in Him, though there 
have been changes in His administration from the commencement 
of man's era to the present time. Just so we know in our own 
practical experience there are changes continually going on in the 
ministration of God to us as individuals. The law at first is 
adapted to meet our childish conditions, our babelike state. As 
we are faithful to the revelations then made, as we have proved 
ourselves worthy to be entrusted with greater powers and greater 



422 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

gifts, then there are other duties unfolded, clearer visions of truth, 
and different works that may be required of us. The law as to 
our spiritual progress holds good as to our secular progress. 

We take a boy and place him as an apprentice to a mercantile 
trade. We give him certain duties to perform, easily comprehended 
by him. There may be some positions of trust which if betrayed 
will not seriously affect us. If we find him true and capable, we 
advance him to further positions of responsibility, and so on, until 
by his capacity, industry, and faithfulness he may be promoted to 
a position of equal partnership with us. So in the relation in 
which we stand spiritually to our Heavenly Father, recognizing 
Him as the one God and Father over all. He comes to us and 
gives us just such duties to be performed, first in the control of 
ourselves, for the purification of our own natures, and after that 
other duties as He in His illimitable wisdom knows we are fitted 
for. If our hearts are so given to Him ; if we have this one 
pure faith, and that belief and full confidence in Him under every 
circumstance in which we are placed, and are true to our convic- 
tions, then there will be higher responsibility placed upon us ; and 
so on. We will continually advance all the while, and even with 
the many infirmities of human nature, and the many things yet to 
be overcome, we may remain in the same state of oneness with 
God, as God and Christ are one. 

This, beloved friends, is my faith. This is my religion; and 
from the standpoint in which I view it, it is sufficient to meet all 
of the conditions of the human family, and to bring us into a 
higher degree of happiness than the world has ever yet attained, 
and which many have never even dreamed of. 

This is the great object of the mission of Jesus in the world, — 
to usher in before mankind the possibility of a life of this char- 
acter which I have been endeavoring to depict, to show its possi- 
bilities, and the power of full control of a humanity like our own 
when that humanity is brought under the government of the 
Spirit, and that spirit is in harmony and unity with God the 
Father. And it seems to me it cannot need any argument to 



Essays and Sermons 423 

convince every one now sitting before me that, were this the feel- 
ing of all professing the Christian name, it would break down 
every sectarian wall that now divides those who else should have 
been brothers and sisters, working in one common interest; that 
it would remove from many eyes the scales that now keep them 
from seeing the breadth of the_ intention of the great all-loving 
Father in Himself establishing this one faith and one baptism. It 
would unite us upon one common ground, even with our diver- 
sities of views. Diversities of views ever remain ; it is impossible 
that men should see eye to eye in all things, for human minds do 
not all work alike ; we are not all endowed with the same capacities 
and powers ; we cannot all reason to conclusions, even from the 
same premises, alike, because we are not all blessed with clearness 
of vision and the power of logical reasoning, but we may all come 
to this common conclusion, that through our one faith in God, by 
our obedience to the unfoldings that come through that faith, we 
may harmonize in feeling, in sympathy and in brotherly union, 
and if all the professors of the Christian name can realize this 
power of God over their lives, they can stand as a united band to 
eradicate the evils that afflict humanity. This one faith curtails 
the selfishness of the human heart ; it would keep in check the con- 
tentious spirits ; it would direct man to act toward his brother man 
just as he would want him to act toward himself. It would bring 
men to place less dependence upon their beliefs and doctrines and 
to centre their whole purpose of life in a purer life ; it would make 
their religion, not a belief, but a religion of conduct, and I believe, 
beloved Friends, that we should see this truth, whose importance 
we recognize in our individual capacities in the different fields in 
which we labor, exert an influence that would tell in our own time 
and deepen and widen to all eternity. 



424 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 

" All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do 
unto you, even so do ye also unto them, for this is the law and 
the Prophets." This will be readily recognized as the Golden 
Rule, against the teachings of which there probably will not be 
found among the professors of Christianity any to make objection. 
But while acknowledging it true as a theory, and accepting it be- 
cause of its being a direct teaching of Jesus, the Christian world 
has unfortunately forgotten to put it into practice. Their atten- 
tion has been so much drawn to the promulgation of doctrines 
and beliefs, or to the acceptance or following of some particular 
thing which Jesus did, that they seem to have overlooked the 
practical nature of this teaching, and the advantages that would 
have grown out of it, had it been more carefully attended to. 

When one reads of the bickerings, the jealousies, the perse- 
cutions, the martydoms, the harsh judgments, the excommunica- 
tions because of difference of view upon religious ideas, or upon 
different interpretations of the teachings of the early Fathers as 
well as of Jesus, we cannot, I think, but clearly see that had there 
been a more careful inculcation of this principle, and a more close 
living up to it, these things would not have occurred. It is a 
question of no small importance to us to-day in our religious pro- 
fession whether we are living up to its requirements. If it be true 
that it is the sum and substance of the Law and of the teachings of 
the Prophets, as well as substantiated by Jesus, whom we regard 
as the great Head and Founder of our Church, it possesses a 
double importance to us. It clearly shows that the Divine Being, 
in the early revelations of His law, expected that the religious life 
His children were required to live would be of . that practical 



Essays and Sermons 425 

nature that would lead them to harmonize with one another, 
notwithstanding their difference of view, difference of thought, 
difference of attainment and difference of environment. If it had 
been important that every human being should see just as every 
other human being did, regarding the different duties to be per- 
formed or the different ideas to be accepted by them, there would 
have been given one specific law that all could understand, and 
which all were in the same manner required to obey. But I think 
that no thoughtful man will, from anything that he has ever found 
in the history of the past, or from his own experience, conclude 
that any such law has ever been given. 

To avoid the scenes that have occurred, to remove conditions 
which are still existing in the world, it seems as though this in- 
junction of Jesus was given, — in order that man might, with all 
this divergence of opinion, of thought, of condition, still recog- 
nize one common brotherhood. It is as a matter of course a very 
close requirement in all things in which we are brought into con- 
tact with our fellows, to do unto them just as we would have 
them do unto us. Such a rule is applicable in every phase of 
human life, and first of all applicable in the human life between the 
different members of the family, each fulfilling his allotted sphere 
in the family, without any other member exercising improper 
authority or harsh judgment. If every member of every individ- 
ual family were thus to realize the importance of this duty, there 
would be no such things as strife and contention. There would 
be no such thing as breaking the bond of true love and harmony 
in the family. There never would be known such things as 
separations and divorces. There would not be a building up of 
such feelings of bitterness as are sometimes engendered between 
parents and children. Whatever may be the right of the parent 
in his authority, it would not be exercised simply because of that 
authority. He would be looking at the best interests of the child 
as well as his own ; and so with the relation between husband and 
wife, and brothers and sisters. When we come to examine just 



426 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

how this requirement demands of us that close, constant self-denial 
which Jesus taught as the proper thing to become a Christian, to 
be a follower of His, we see that there is a great deal for us yet as 
professing Christians to learn, a great deal yet to attain to. When 
we go out into the wider circle of social life, in our interminglings 
with each other socially, the avoidance of any expression in regard 
to the conduct of another that we would not like to have made 
toward ourselves under similar circumstances, the refraining from 
improper criticism, and from being a party to the speading of a 
report that may be injurious to the character of another, or inter- 
fering in any way with his advancement socially or secularly or 
religiously, — all this is no easy attainment, — we see that it is a 
very close path to walk in. It requires maintaining a constant 
guard over the thought first, and then the bridling of the tongue, 
the forbearing to express that which we see in our judgment is 
imperfect and improper. 

I am not speaking of these things because I think I have attained 
to the condition described. The subject has opened before me 
in the past few days in a peculiar manner, and I am willing to 
share this line of thought with you this morning, and to ask each 
of us to go into an investigation as to how far we have made this 
Golden Rule the practice of our lives ; and I think if we enter into 
this close examination there are few of us who will not find that 
there is something yet for us to do. With all our professions of 
Christianity, with all our hope of the eternal life, we have not 
attained yet all that lies within the line of human attainment in a 
Christian life. 

Then in the business world. Are we careful to present a matter 
to another as we would like it presented to ourselves in all our 
dealings? Is there no deception made? Are we thoughtful to 
give to others that which belongs to them ? Do we avoid taking 
from them their substance without rendering a proper equivalent 
for it ? As we look around in the world among professing Chris- 
tians, we see much in their business relations that seems to be op- 



Essays and Sermons 427 

posite to this rule. We see them presenting the best side of things 
to an intending customer and often misrepresenting the conditions ; 
undervaluing the thing they wish to buy, or overvaluing that 
which they wish to sell ; moved by impulses perhaps for pecuniary 
gain, aside from the necessaries of life, or because of a sharp and 
bitter competition. If all were to put this rule into practice who 
profess the Christian name, it would do away with very much of 
the unhappy conditions existing in the world around us. It would 
keep men out of improper speculations ; keep them from all forms 
of gambling, whether they are regarded as legitimate or illegiti- 
mate; keep them from all forms of embezzlement, and from all 
kinds of defalcation. It would make the business life one far 
more pleasant to enter into, and far better in its operations with 
respect to all classes of mankind. 

So in the religious life. In any organization, how often we find 
bitterness or coldness engendered because of improper expressions 
used by an individual in regard to a subject before the meeting for 
discussion ; because of the disposition to have our own way without 
looking to the rights of others or giving to the views of others 
a proper thought and a proper place. How often with relation 
to expressions that fall from those who appear in our meetings in 
the ministry we may not fully understand the line of their thought. 
We may not gather just the idea they intended to express, it may 
clash with our own, it may be different from that which we had 
conceived was true, it may be widely different from that which 
we have been taught, and the workings of the speaker's mind may 
be different from the working of our own. Do we judge them 
harshly? Do we do unto them as we would have them do unto 
us under similar conditions ? 

Reverse the case. Suppose you were speaking to those of us 
who had these diverse views. If there be a spirit of judgment, if 
there be a condition of harshness of mind, if there be coldness, if 
there be something there which would lead us to assume the 
position that we were right and they were wrong, would we like it 



428 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

done to us under similar circumstances? This thought having a 
proper place in the mind would very often soften the asperities 
of some natures, would keep them from giving utterance to ex- 
pressions that would hurt or wound, or if it did not hurt or wound 
the person who used the expression, might create prejudice in 
some minds against him, and thus mar the bond of union, break 
up that close fellow-feeling which should exist in any religious 
body. 

If we carry out this injunction in good faith, we see that in this 
relation it requires very close watchfulness on the part of each in- 
dividual mind. We want the right to think for ourselves. We 
want the right if the occasion comes to express our thoughts, 
and if we do it in a proper manner that right should be given us 
without this idea of condemnation. And so we have the right to 
think in regard to what may be expressed. We have a right to 
criticise it if that criticism be not of a carping character. We 
have a right to examine it, and if we find it true, to accept it, and 
if we find it to be not true, to reject it. At the same time there 
may be a perfect bond of union between us. There may be a 
perfect love maintained. There may be a condition out of which 
there may be a growth on both sides. There may be a thought 
expressed that may differ widely from that which we thought was 
the truth, and it may strike at some of our prejudices, and yet if 
we examine it carefully we may find a clearer unfolding of truth 
than we had had any conception of previously. We are all 
learners in this field. None of us has yet attained all it is possible 
to know of divine truth. None of us has attained such a condition 
as to have a perfect conception of all that has been revealed in the 
past any more than of all that has been revealed in the present. 
Therefore in these respects we see the necessity of carrying out 
this injunction. 

It is so in the relation that we bear to other churches, those who 
worship God in different form from ourselves, and who according 
to their light and perception of truth are banded together for 



Essays and Sermons 429 

carrying on the Lord's work. We need to carry out this injunction 
towards them as we want it carried out towards ourselves. No 
religious body has the right, if they wish to do unto others as 
they would have others do unto them, to assume that all others 
except themselves are wrong ; that they have found the only right 
way, and that their line of thought is the only true way of salva- 
tion, the only true way to worship God, and the only true way 
to do that which is pleasing in the sight of God. We must allow 
each of these, as we do individuals, to have their own line of 
thought, to follow out that which they deem to be true, without 
our assuming the seat of judgment over them. We do have a 
right clearly to give our thought in regard to these things, without 
assuming that we alone are right, or that they are wrong. This 
is our privilege, as with the individual, but if we keep out this 
feeling of judgment, we will find that it will bring us to see that 
there are points of agreement that are as strong as, if not stronger 
than, the points on which we disagree ; that there is a course of 
life resulting from our religious thought by which we can stand 
on one common ground ; that we can recognize in different expres- 
sions, in the different lines of thought, that there is but one God 
and the one Spirit working. 

It would do away with these aspersions that mar the Christian 
union, tear down the sectarian wall built between the sects, and 
dispel that contention over doctrine which has in the past marred 
the history of the Christian Church. It would lead men to stand 
upon common ground in regard to those things which are essen- 
tial; things that are non-essential to the whole may be essential 
to the object to be attained by the individual, but not for all other 
individuals to accept. This would leave far more time to combat 
the vice that is in the world, and to work side by side to do away 
with the evils that afflict humanity. We would find a common 
brotherhood in the uplifting of the fallen and in restoring the 
erring, and in doing that which will best promote each other's 
happiness. 



430 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

But I recognize that while these are the requirements of the 
Master in giving this injunction, man cannot do this by his own 
unaided strength. I recognize that while he may make resolution 
after resolution as the effort of his own will, they may prove as 
words written on the sands of the seashore, which, as the tide 
flows in, may be entirely obliterated by the very first wave of 
temptation or trial. But I believe there is a power which is able, 
if we are willing to be governed by it, to enable us to attain at 
least some degree of experience in practically carrying out this 
idea. 

The Golden Rule is in close conformity to that other declaration 
of Jesus, when the question was asked Him, What is the greatest 
commandment ? " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
soul, and with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all 
thy strength. This is the first great commandment, and the 
second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
Upon this rests all the Law and the Prophets." But Jesus also 
said that in this Golden Rule is combined all the teachings of the 
Law and the Prophets. Thus we see that these are very closely 
united. There must first be in the heart the love of God. There 
must first be a recognition of the Divine, not merely as a Creator, 
not merely as God alone, but as a Father, — that our hearts shall 
be so given up to Him that we shall completely love Him as the 
first great object of our lives. Not that we shall stand in fear 
of and aloof from Him, not that we shall look upon Him as a 
Being we do not dare to approach, but that we may regard Him 
as a Father who will give us tender counsel, who is ever seeking 
our best and highest interests ; and who in the establishment of the 
law for our guidance and government designed to effect our 
happiness in the present life as well as to fit us to enjoy all that is 
in the life to come. 

Towards this Divine Father then our love should be fixed 
supreme. To Him the whole mind and soul should be given up, 
making Him the first object of our affections. This love for Him 



Essays and Sermons 431 

is no more at variance with our love for anything right and 
proper than conjugal or parental affection is at variance with the 
love that reaches out to all our fellow-creatures. Our love for 
humanity does not lessen the bonds of conjugal love, but on the 
contrary that love is the stronger because of the influence of the 
other love. So in our love for our Heavenly Father. While 
that love may and should be supreme, it does not lessen the proper 
love that we may have for our fellow-beings, but there comes 
coupled with love of God that unselfish love for our fellow- 
man, — for " thy neighbor as thyself." This is the foundation of 
the rule that " all things whatsoever ye would that men should 
do unto you, do ye even so to them." Upon this rests our duty 
to the Divine Being, through whom we find the strength, the 
direction, and the power that enable us to carry out that injunc- 
tion. If love of the Divine Lawgiver is supreme we are led to do 
that which we feel He requires. We then cheerfully and willingly 
perform just such work and service as the Father demands of 
us. So with our profession of this belief in God, of a belief in 
His Son whom we call Christ, as the Revelator of God (and not 
only the Revelator of God but the Revelator of the laws of God 
to us), — with our belief in this there is need that we should carry 
that belief into practical action among men ; and there is no 
way in which we can carry it out so fully, no manner in which 
we can so clearly exemplify it, as by obeying this injunction of 
the Blessed Master to follow the Golden Rule in every relation in 
which we are placed in life. 

Shall we not then, beloved Friends, examine for ourselves yet 
more, closely than has been our wont as to the spirit of our inter- 
course with our fellow-men? Shall we not to-day covenant with 
God that we will more closely serve Him in this relation ? that we 
will endeavor by His aid, by His power, by the strength He has 
given us, to watch more closely over every thought, over every 
word, and over every act of our lives, that henceforth there may 
be a still greater attainment of or advancement toward a realiza- 



432 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

tion of the fulfilment of this injunction? How it would do away 
with many of the differences that hinder the progress of the 
church and the individual. How it would lead us to watch care- 
fully over the word we speak that it may not injure or wound. 
How it would lead us to seek the highest good of others in prefer- 
ence to our own good, and would this not bring the sweetest and 
holiest satisfaction in those moments of deep thought in which 
we take a retrospect of our lives? Would it not bind us more 
sweetly and closely to our fellow-men? 



Essays and Sermons 433 



"AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?" 

" Am I my brother's keeper ? " This is recorded as the lan- 
guage of Cain when the Lord had asked him what had become of 
his brother after he had slain him. This phrase is used and has 
been used in all ages of the world to shield men from the con- 
fession of overt acts of wrong or from acknowledging their re- 
sponsibility for not doing the best they could to check wrong. 

We are very apt to consider ourselves free from any responsi- 
bility for the wrong-doing of others, under the plea that each is 
accountable for his own acts. And while this is largely true, yet 
nevertheless it is also true that we are more or less accountable 
for the influences we are exerting which may have a tendency 
to lead others to do that which they ought not to do, or to shield 
themselves behind our act as a means of justification. In our 
religious life we have, first, the purifying of our own life ; that is 
always the first work, — to be so obedient to the unfoldings of 
Divine Law that we may witness for ourselves a preservation 
from the commission of wrong ; but this requirement is not placed 
upon us simply for our own happiness, but that we might be able 
to exert an influence for good over those with whom we may 
come in contact, or assist others so far as lies in our power to 
refrain from the commission of all things that are wrong or evil. 
We have to study our own needs, and the responsibilities under 
which we are placed. It is not enough for us to say, " I have done 
what I could to clear my own skirts of wrong, so far as relates to 
my own life." We have to look around us as to how far we may 
be made the instrument to assist others to reach this condition, — 
as to how far the Lord may have demanded of us a work to do, 
that, if properly performed, would assist our brother or our 
sister. 

28 



434 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

If, in seeking to obey the law given me, which requires the sur- 
render of my heart to my Heavenly Father, and requires of me, 
under that surrender, the control of each appetite and every 
passion, I have an individual duty to perform, from the perform- 
ance of which I obtain happiness of soul, does that absolve me 
from extending an influence over those who are not as obedient as 
myself? Does that absolve me from taking my part in the world's 
great task, — to lessen the conditions of vice, of wrong, or of crime 
that abound? Must I sit down in my own sealed house, and say 
that the same God that has directed my life, will also- direct the 
lives of others, and I must leave that to God alone? 

Am I not, in respect to the influence I am to exert over the 
family of man, in part my brother's keeper? Can I absolve 
myself from responsibility to use the talents, the powers, the ex- 
perience God has given me to aid others? When I look around 
me in the world and see so much of suffering, so much of vice, so 
much of crime, out of which grows so much sorrow, have I no 
part in alleviating these conditions? Have I a right to follow 
my own selfish feelings, to rest satisfied because through my 
obedience I have gathered rest, so far as my own overt acts of 
life are concerned? 

I am aware, from my contact with men, and my conversation 
with them, that a feeling of this kind too largely prevails. We 
see around us many things we would regard as great evils, which 
need to be eradicated, but we are too often unwilling to do our 
part towards that eradication, shielding ourselves behind the in- 
quiry, " Am I my brother's keeper? " 

Take, for instance, the gigantic evil of intemperance, which 
we all know brings more suffering and more sorrow into life than 
all other evils combined. We know it has its origin in' the de- 
mands of an appetite more or less acquired by the individual, but 
largely received as an inheritance, because of the actions or lives 
of his ancestors in the past; that while we recognize the need and 
demand of each individual, under obedience to the Divine Law, to 
forego the demands of that appetite, yet we cannot hold our- 



Essays and Sermons 435 

selves blameless, and we have no right to shield ourselves behind 
the thought, " Am I my brother's keeper ? " unless we use every 
influence in our power to lessen this evil. It is incumbent upon 
us not only to abstain from the use of intoxicants, but to do noth- 
ing in any way which shall advance their use or allow it to con- 
tinue in the land, and to use all the influence we are capable of 
exerting in every possible right way to lessen its effect. We 
must not shield ourselves behind the idea that we may indulge a 
little, or that we may stand aloof from exerting the influence we 
cr.n exert, or that we may hand the cup to a neighbor's lips, hold- 
ing him responsible for not refusing it. If we do any of these 
things that either directly or indirectly contribute to the con- 
tinuance of such an evil in the land, we are in part responsible 
to our God for the existence of that evil. We cannot, by any 
method of reasoning, or by attempting to hide ourselves behind 
the thought that we are not our brother's keepers, shift the re- 
sponsibility from our own shoulders. We shall be held account- 
able for the influence we may be exerting in this direction. And 
so of every other evil that is existing around us, over which we 
may exert a power or an influence that shall tend to check its 
spread or its existence among us. 

I have been made this morning more deeply sensible, I think, 
than I ever have been before, of this responsibility, which rests 
upon us as individuals, for the character of the influence we are 
exerting. 

There are minds laboring under conditions of sorrow and 
suffering because of the existence of many things, the doing away 
of which would, we know, better their condition and that of 
humanity at large. We may think ourselves happy in the position 
in which we stand, by simply refraining from entering into any 
of these things we see to be evil. We may think we have done 
our part if we have set a proper example in this direction, have 
not allowed ourselves to be led into any of the extravagances of 
life from which comes suffering into the world ; that we have 



436 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

not yielded to the covetous nature of man, and thus set an im- 
proper example to others ; that we have not given way to passion ; 
that we have not allowed ourselves to become angry; that we do 
not, when we meet our brother man, and enter into conversation 
with him, enter into disputations whence grows bitterness of 
feeling; that we do not in any form violate the law of God, and 
then content ourselves that our work is done. No, beloved 
Friends, this is only another form of framing the excuse, " Am I 
my brother's keeper ? " 

While I recognize the need there is of being careful to live 
under divine direction in the performance of any of these duties 
where we are to exert an influence for good over our fellow-man, 
yet at the same time I see the care that is also needful to be exer- 
cised that w r e do not rest ourselves there. There is as much 
responsibility resting upon us for sins of omission as for sins of 
commission. We may violate Divine Law by doing that which 
we know is wrong; we may also violate Divine Law by refusing 
to do that which we know is right. We may violate Divine Law 
by refusing to exert our influence for the upbuilding of our 
brother and shielding him from wrong. 

It may be. necessary, in order to do this, that we shall enter into 
such a deep baptism of soul that we will even have to relinquish 
that which may seem to be good for us, in order that we may 
accomplish some good for others. Thus Paul gives the expres- 
sion in relation to his experience : " Wherefore if meat maketh my 
brother to stumble I will eat no flesh forevermore, that I may not 
make my brother to stumble." There is in this simply the idea 
that if in our life there be that which, by our entering into it, 
may be the means of offending a brother, it is needful that we 
should abstain from that, or else we cannot exert that proper 
influence that we should for the good of our fellow-man ; it stands 
in the way of our advancing their interests ; it interferes with the 
proper testimony we might have to bear or the proper influence 
we ought to exert. There is no religious life that produces true 



Essays and Sermons 437 

happiness that is not a life of self-denial in some respects, or in 
large respects. It is not only a self-denial of things that may be 
improper, but a self-denial at times of things that may seem to be 
legitimately right. 

If there be a command given, an order, by the Divine Father, 
that we abstain from that which will do us no harm, yet may 
harm a brother, we must, in order to secure our own peace, and 
avoid the responsibility of our brother's guilt, abstain. It makes, 
I know, a narrow path for some of us. It may require the leaving 
off of cherished ideas and cherished thoughts and views ; it may 
require the abandonment of habits we have not as yet understood 
clearly, as regards their effect upon other individuals, or upon 
ourselves. It is no just plea for us to say that others have done 
this or are doing it; it is no just plea to say that our fathers 
did it without condemnation; that will not avail in the least. It 
is only another form of again hiding ourselves behind the plea, 
" Am I my brother's keeper ? " The thing for us to do is to 
watch carefully the monitions of the Divine Will ; to watch closely 
the unfoldings of the Divine requirements ; what it is we are 
required to surrender; where it is we are required to exercise our 
strongest influences in the best and purest manner. And when 
there is a clear opening as to what we shall do, when there is the 
full understanding of what the Father requires, our peace will 
always lie in the performance of that line of duty. 

We ought not, indeed we must not, beloved Friends, settle our- 
selves down into a condition of rest, as in a condition of attain- 
ment that we may have reached. We know not the purposes of 
the Divine Father in leading us thus far. We know, while he may 
have surrounded us, if we have been faithful, with pain and sor- 
row, the result may have been to make us the instrument for 
extending the influence of God far wider than we had ever before 
done. We may have only been brought by Him through the 
spiritual education we have received up to that standpoint where 
we can the more clearly show our brother the proper way, by our 



438 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

life, by our word, and by our willingness to make the sacrifices for 
his good. 

Oh, I would say then to you, my young friends, who are gath- 
ered here this morning, toward whom my heart is warm, that 
you would remember this for yourselves, would remember that 
the Divine Father, in leading you, in making requirements of you, 
which, as you are obedient to them, will produce happiness to your 
souls, that you are not to rest here, not to think you have attained 
all that the Father requires of you because you have reached this 
state of rest, any more than in the attainment of worldly knowl- 
edge you are to think you have learned all there is to know. 
Something new, some new knowledge, is unfolded every day in 
life, in science, in the attainments of art, etc., and so there will be 
new truths opened up before you in the spiritual life, as you are 
continually obedient to what the Father requires ; but it is not 
merely for your own gratification, not merely for your own 
selves, but there is in this that which is designed to make you 
useful in His hand to assist your fellows. 

In my own experience and in the duties that have devolved 
upon me in the faithful discharge of what is required of me, in 
the performance of my every-day duty, in the watching over my 
own passions, is all of my work fulfilled? Would I be perform- 
ing the service the Master has required at my hands if I stopped 
there? He has given me the call to the ministry; He has quali- 
fied me to some extent to bear my testimony before the people, and 
why? Is it for no purpose but to assist them to reach that same 
condition as the result of their faithfulness? Is it for nothing 
else but that I may carry comfort to some hearts, that I may be 
able to encourage others, that I may be faithful to the work al- 
lotted me? As I advance if life, as greater things are shown me, 
as experience becomes deeper, does it not qualify me more 
and more to faithfully perform the kind of work and service He 
has given me to do? 

Then just so with you in your work ; you will find it continually 
enlarging and expanding; and be not afraid or ashamed to do 



Essays and Sermons 439 

just that part of the work the Master requires of you. Be will- 
ing to make any sacrifice that may be demanded of you, and He 
will stand by you and uphold you. 

If I were to refrain from the performance of the work and ser- 
vice demanded of me in the line of the ministry, if I were to say, 
" God is just as able to teach every other soul as He has been 
able to teach mine ;" that He can show to others that which 
they are to know, as He has shown it to me, and should therefore 
refuse to stand before the people and bear the testimonies of 
God, I should be shrinking behind that same plea, " Am I my 
brother's keeper?" In the matter of the duties demanded, not 
only of me, but of you, we are really in these things our brothers' 
keepers. We have not a right to live a life just as we like in 
this, any more than we have in the secular world. We are de- 
pending upon one another for the very sustenance that supports 
these outward lives. No one of us, unless he places himself, as it 
were, in a hermit's cell, depriving himself of the social enjoy- 
ments and the pleasures and profits of intermingling with men, is 
independent of his brother. We are, in some degree, responsible 
for that brother's welfare, even in secular matters, and it is equally 
true in regard to our religious lives. 

I would then impress upon every soul that hears me this morn- 
ing, the responsibility under which we are resting. You see 
around you the wrongs that bring so much sorrow in the world 
in the secular life, and I would ask each of you, with myself, to 
enter very closely into an investigation of the thoughts and feel- 
ings of our lives, and inquire of ourselves, Are we in any form 
or manner shielding ourselves behind the excuse, " Am I my 
brother's keeper?" am I engaged in any form of business, am I 
allowing myself to enter into any kind of enjoyment that in its 
influence tends to strengthen those habits of our brothers that 
lead them down to darkness and to death? Am I in any way 
preventing or retarding, by withholding my hands, or by being 
unwilling to make any self-sacrifice, the amelioration of the condi- 
tion of mankind around me? And when we come to study this 



44-0 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

matter thus closely, I apprehend there is not a man here, not a 
soul here, that will not find there is yet a work for him to do. 

Oh, then, let us be willing to do it ; let us no longer be willing 
to shield ourselves behind the excuse, " Am I my brother's 
keeper ? " no longer indulge in the thought that each man stands 
alone responsible to his God, and " I have no responsibility for 
my brother " in the example I set, in the life I lead, and the in- 
fluence I exert. 

Ah, no, beloved Friends, this will not do. We will find, as some 
of us have already found, the more we have sacrificed for the 
good of others, the more we have laid aside our own selfish de- 
sires and attainments, the more we have become willing to do 
for others, the greater the joy that is given to our own souls. 
This is always the case ; by stepping outside of our selfishness we 
make the greater advancement towards the attainment of that 
which we desire the most ; of a heaven to-day in the world around 
us, and a Heaven in the world to come. 



Essays and Sermons 441 



SALVATION FROM SELFISHNESS. 

Whittier, in his poem of '' The Meeting," gives expression to 

this thought, 

That to be saved is onl}^ this,— 
Salvation from our selfishness. 

I apprehend all will agree with me that the object of all our 
religious devotion, of our profession and belief, is, in some way, 
to work out our soul's salvation, whether we look toward that 
salvation as something to be attained in the present, or only to 
be realized by us in the eternal world. The efforts of the ministry 
and of the missionary are all directed toward the saving of souls. 
Each concludes in his own way, or under his own particular line 
of thought, that he has found the best way. We, in this Chris- 
tian land, as believers in the great mission of Jesus, accept His 
doctrines, His counsels, His teachings, as those which most readily 
and truly lead up to the attainment of that which we are thus 
hoping for. 

If this thought of Whittier's be true, it simplifies very much 
the nature and character of the work necessary for each of us to 
do in order to attain this end. It makes it something tangible, 
something practical, something which belongs to the present life. 
It differs somewhat from that which has been long taught in the 
world in that it does not call upon men to embrace any particular 
doctrine, to place their faith in anything that is done without them 
or has been done without them, to accomplish a work the effects 
of which are only to be realized in another state of being; but it 
brings it directly home to the present life, it strikes directly at our 
living in the world, at the manner of thought which we allow to 
find a resting place, as well as the act which flows out from that 
thought. 



442 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

It does not, by any means, involve the idea that there is no right 
selfish action. It does not involve the idea that man may not 
give proper latitude to the cravings of his nature ; but that we are 
to be saved from the control of our nature by that selfishness — 
that we are to be kept from becoming subjects of that selfishness. 
It involves, also, the thought that sin is the result of yielding im- 
properly to that selfishness ; that, if we are to be saved from sin, 
we must be saved from our selfishness. Very simple. It takes 
away the idea that we are responsible for or placed under any ad- 
verse conditions, by anybody else's sin. It places each individual 
of us upon his own bottom, as it were, his own foundation, and 
makes him responsible for his own acts. If we study carefully 
the workings of our human nature we will find there is a great 
deal of selfishness in it, and there is a great deal of that selfishness 
that is right. There is the proper observance of the laws of 
nature in the care of the physical life. We have to give it atten- 
tion. We have to provide the sustenance for it ; yet we must not 
allow that demand to so absorb our whole time and our whole at- 
tention that we cannot take our proper part in life in other direc- 
tions. We must not allow the promptings of our nature to pro- 
vide for the support of life, — the proper selfishness of our nature, 
— to interfere with the growth of the intellectual nature, or with 
proper social indulgence, or social minglings with the world, and 
certainly not with the cultivation of the higher nature, the spiritual 
nature ; nor must we allow ourselves to be so absorbed in providing 
sustenance to further our own physical lives as to render ourselves 
entirely oblivious to the needs of others, or to make us forgetful 
of their rights and their privileges. By so doing, while we may 
attain large provision for our own sustenance, we may be bringing 
disorderly conditions into the world. This may be done in very 
many ways. I need not enter into details. The thought will be 
patent to every one among you that there are very many methods 
by which men may, in their selfishness in providing for their own 
needs and those of others who are dependent upon them, do great 
injustice to others by simply looking at themselves and their own 



Essays and Sermons 443 

selfish interests. They, in this manner, commit a sin. They 
interfere with their own social happiness ; and they also interfere 
with the higher happiness, and the social happiness of others. 
This is a wrong that needs righting. 

The conflict between, capital and labor, in the manner in which 
it is largely carried on, has its origin in this selfishness on the 
part of each. It is one of those things that needs righting in some 
form, and it can only be righted by the control of the selfishness 
of each class, each being careful not to do wrong towards the 
other. We can readily see that, if this were the case, there would 
be no binding of improper burdens by the employer upon the em- 
ploye, neither would there be, on the part of the employe, a 
shrinking from the performance of the lot assigned him and doing 
it properly and well. 

There are, too, the passions of our nature, the varied appetites, 
the very many ways in which we are looking after our own 
selfish interest. It is in this manner we sin. We yield in some 
form to the promptings of our own natures, our own desires, our 
own wishes, and that whether it be sins of commission or of omis- 
sion. If there be a clear presentation of duty to be performed, 
a requirement that we ought to do something for our neighbor, 
to exert an influence either by word or act for his good, and we 
hesitate to do it, we plead our excuses, — perhaps our time is so 
closely occupied in other directions, or we say we are unworthy 
to take up the work, that we are unfit for it : — we use all these 
excuses simply to get out of doing that which we see we ought to 
do ; and this has its origin in a certain sort of selfishness, for there 
are different degrees of selfishness in our nature. Trace it as 
minutely as we can, in all its ramifications and bearings, we will 
find ourselves brought to one conclusion : wherever we com- 
mit a wrong, or refrain from doing a right, we have some selfish 
motive underneath that prompts us, — something that leads us to 
refuse to do what we know we ought to do, or refuse to leave 
undone what we know we ought not to have done; and this per- 
vades all classes, all individuals and almost every act of human 



444 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

life. And the result is always sure — when we do that which we 
know we ought not to have done, or refrain from doing that which 
we know we ought to have done, it produces unhappiness, dis- 
turbs the quiet of the mind, disturbs our rest and peace. We need 
not acknowledge it to one another. We are so constituted — 
some of us at least — that we are very secretive ; we are reticent re- 
garding our own feelings and thoughts; yet the all-seeing eye 
of the Divine One, that penetrates the thoughts entertained by 
every heart, knows, as we know, that we are not at rest, that we 
are not satisfied with our own doing; and I think there are few 
of you before me that have not, in your own experience, found 
this to be true, and that have not, like myself, again and again 
resolved we would not be found in this same condition again. 

The work, then, the important work of salvation, lies right here 
in this practical manner of being saved from our own selfishness,- 
which will save us from the commission of sin, save us from 
breaking every law of the Divine Father that has been made 
known to us, and as a result will keep us in harmony with the 
Divine Father. 

Now this is a work that cannot be accomplished in a moment. 
And here is where I would differ very largely from the thought we 
see so frequently expressed, that when there comes over a man a 
conviction that there is need of a dependence on some higher 
power, the lips may express the thought, " I believe," and that 
soul is then saved, — that it is a momentary work, accomplished in 
a moment because of the result of the conviction that there is need 
of being led by a higher power and of giving the heart up to the 
service of God. I believe many have made their mistake in this 
direction by harboring the thought that because they made a 
profession of a belief in doctrines, or a belief in Christ, they were 
therefore saved ; — that from that belief, they would in the eternal 
world be pardoned for all the wrongs committed here. I believe 
there is danger, beloved friends, in the acceptation of such a view, 
because there is no one of us who has had experience in life who 
does not know, who has not deeply realized, that we are only safe 



Essays and Sermons 445 

while we maintain the watch day by day ; that however earnestly 
we may give our hearts to the service of the Lord, however deep 
may be the devotion, or the conviction that may rest upon our 
hearts that we must thus yield ourselves to Him, we have only 
taken the first step in the right direction. We have not yet been 
saved from our selfishness. We do not know in what moment the 
trial may come when we, not being found on the watch, may yield 
to some form of selfishness. 

When we look over the history of the Christian Church through 
the past ages, and in our own age, and see how much there is 
yet existing of the evidence of selfishness in so many forms, 
we must be brought to the conclusion that not all who have pro- 
fessed the name of Christ, or to believe in Jesus, have yet been 
saved from their selfishness. When we see the divisions that have 
been the experience of almost every religious organization, when 
we see the bitterness, the strife, the contentions that are found 
within their borders, when we see the arraignment of men for dar- 
ing to think differently from their fathers, and their fellows as- 
suming the seat of judgment over them because of expressions 
that differ from certain views of theology, is it not patent from 
this standpoint to every one of us that there is yet much for all 
the churches and for every professor of the Christian name to 
learn in the way of this kind of salvation to which the poet calls 
our attention? 

I have no controversy with other men's views. It is not their 
views that I am speaking of. I have no controversy with their 
beliefs ; but I do want to inculcate a deeper thoughtfulness in re- 
gard to the obligation resting upon each one of us, in the working 
out of our souls' salvation, that we shall not rest simply upon what 
others have gathered, or upon mere forms, or doctrines, or dog- 
mas, and then conclude our work is done. Just so long as there 
is in the world so much crime, vice, wars, and rumors of wars, 
so long as there are contentions and strife within religious 
borders, just so long will there be need of bearing testimony to the 
simple method of salvation which was thus brought forward in 



446 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

my text, — need of a deepening in the life, of closer study of man's 
responsibilities and of his capabilities, in order that he may realize 
what, is meant by being saved. If every Christian professor 
throughout the land were to live a life exemplifying salvation 
from his selfishness, who of us cannot see that there would be a 
different condition of things throughout the world? Who of us 
cannot see there would be a different feeling existing between man 
and man and between the brotherhoods of men? 

Then there comes the question, How shall we be saved from our 
selfishness ? It is one thing to know what we ought to do ; it is 
another thing to do it. I can only refer to my own experience, 
which has been somewhat peculiar ; and although I have borne 
my testimony before in the hearing of some of you, and the 
statement I shall make has also been criticised, yet I must again 
present it, and my reasons for it. I have no other Saviour but the 
Spirit of God, the Christ within me, revealing to me directly that 
which I have to do or to leave undone. In my earlier years all 
dependence upon the past was taken from me. My faith in those 
who stood high in the Society was shaken to such an extent that 
I resolved I would never darken the doors of a Friends* meeting- 
house again. And from my standpoint, my selfish standpoint of 
reasoning, I soon reasoned away all the faith that had been taught 
me, that there was a power that was unerring in its revelations to 
the souls of men of the law of right. It did not take me long, 
from this standpoint of reasoning, to reason away everything of 
a religious character — to even deny the existence of a God. I 
see now, I believe now, that that dispensation was permitted, in 
Divine wisdom, to make of me a Friend from conviction, as I had 
been a Friend from birthright — to teach me the lesson, through the 
revelation of God Himself, that He did reveal Himself to the 
children of men, and would reveal to them all of the knowledge 
they needed to know in order for the salvation of their souls. It 
was when alone in the field, like George Fox of old, with no 
human being around me, struggling against the convictions of the 
Spirit, bringing to bear all of the powers of reasoning and sophis- 



Essays and Sermons 447 

try I possessed to convince myself that there was no Supreme 
Being, that my God met me and furnished me the evidence, so 
clear, so indubitable, that from that moment to the present I have 
never had a doubt of His existence, nor of His revelation of 
Himself and of His law directly to the children of men. I could 
not, in words, open to any other heart the nature of that revelation 
and that conviction. I simply say it was sufficient for me — ■ 
that has been the guiding star of my life since. All I am, all I 
ever have been, all I have done for good, all the influence I have 
exerted to carry comfort to any soul, to uplift any drooping heart, 
to encourage any one to continue in obedience to the Divine law, 
has been because of my faithfulness to that revelation in my own 
heart. It opened to me that I must first restrain myself and con- 
trol the selfishness of my nature. With a nature strong and 
passionate, quick, impulsive, easily aroused, sensitive, quick to 
feel indignation, this seemed to be almost the first demand made 
of me — to control that passion, that selfishness of my nature; to 
keep in check those things which I found so disturbed my own 
quiet, and which led to contention — for no one loved controversy 
up to this period of my life more than I. Whenever an oppor- 
tunity for argument or controversy opened, I readily embraced it. 
But when I came under this conviction of Divine power, that met 
me in my field, I found this must be laid aside. As I look back 
over the experience of my life to that moment I can see that such 
controversy had always left me with unpleasant feelings. It had 
never been carried on without some warmth, some expressions 
which in my calmer moments I would have been glad to recall, 
and it always left me disturbed in spirit. 

This was among the first of the requirements, — to lay down that 
selfishness ; and as I yielded to it, Friends, I found a sweeter hap- 
piness. It has not, as you know, prevented me from expressing 
boldly and clearly what I believe to be true, but it has kept me 
in so far as I had the command of language from expressing it 
in that controversial manner which was calculated to wound. 



448 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Then came other requirements of a similar nature, little by 
little. Although in that communion in the field with my Heavenly 
Father, there alone with Him, I had yielded my life to His service, 
had covenanted with Him then and there I would do all He re- 
quired of me if He would give me strength to perform the re- 
quirements, I was not saved then — in that moment. It had not all 
been accomplished. Day by day, week by week, month by month, 
and year by year, as the years rolled on, I have found here and 
there— yes, almost every day of my life — something that needed 
to be controlled to save me from my selfishness. The selfish pow- 
ers are continually asserting themselves to be gratified. There 
is no attainment, no condition to which the human mind can 
reach, where they are so completely under control that they will 
not at times re-assert themselves. They are so necessary for 
all the legitimate objects of our being; it is so imperative that their 
reasonable demands should be satisfied in order that we may 
properly fulfil the functions of life, that their proper strength may 
easily develop to entire mastery of our natures unless we watch 
over them carefully every day we live. 

When we come then to realize what are the responsibilities 
under which we are placed, that this is a daily work, then we 
realize there must be a dependence upon a power higher than our 
own. We say we believe in God, we believe in Christ as the 
Saviour— but how? Is it sufficient to believe there is a God who 
rules in heaven and overrules in all the earth, a power that created 
all things, who is the Father of all spiritual life? Will that mere 
belief save me from my selfishness? Will the belief that Jesus 
came into the world as the Saviour of the world, with a mission to 
show to the world, a life lived free from all selfishness of human 
nature, by obedience to the power within Him, — will a belief in 
Him save me from my selfishness? I want to bring this thought 
home to some of you to examine carefully in regard to this. It is 
not that I, by any means, would lessen or undervalue this belief 
in God. Oh, no. Full well I learned that lesson through depths 
of sufrering ; yet there must be a cordial co-operation on our part 



Essays and Sermons 449 

with the revelation of the law of God to enable us to control our 
selfishness. There must not only be a belief in the existence of 
God, not only confidence in the law He unfolds to us to obey, but 
there must be on our part obedience to the law. 

But where shall I get knowledge of the law? How shall I 
know when and where I am to control the selfishness of my nature? 
Shall I turn back to the records of the early fathers of this church ? 
Shall I read the writings of George Fox, William Penn, Robert 
Barclay, Isaac Pennington, to find therein that which will meet 
my need for to-day. Is there anything found in their writings, 
grand as they are. that will meet the condition in which I may be 
placed this morning? No; you know it is not so. They have 
simply given us a record of their conflicts and of their overcom- 
ings — not of all the specific conflicts they met; no man can put 
upon paper or print in a book the struggles of every hour of his 
life, the conflicts he may meet. And if he could, there are no 
two of us who will meet just the same conflicts in the same manner 
and at the same moment. We cannot in such manner make a law 
for ourselves. So if I open the lids of the Bible, and read there 
the grand and valuable truths that were revealed to men in the 
past, they will show to me how those who were obedient to the 
law given to them were kept and preserved from doing wrong, 
and how those who were not obedient to the law given them met 
condemnation and disquietude of soul, and as a result entered into 
varied forms of captivity; and while all these are lessons to me, 
showing me the results of obedience or disobedience to the Divine 
law, they do not give me to understand just what I am to do to 
overcome my own selfish nature. Each individual of us must find 
this out for himself, and it can only be found out by the particular 
revelation of Christ, the Spirit of God, the power and wisdom 
of God, in our hearts to-day. Thanks be unto the Father, He 
sends that beloved Son to-day just as freely, just as universally, 
as He does the light that emanates from the sun in the heavens 
to all material things. It penetrates every heart. It reaches 
down into every soul. It is like tendrils, or the nerves of the 
29 



450 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

system, conveying unto a loving father the condition of every 
rational soul living. And there comes down, as with telegraphic 
quickness, into each heart, the lesson, the teaching, the law to 
guide that heart to-day — all in a moment telling where we shall 
restrain ourselves, — where we shall control the selfishness of our 
natures in refraining from doing wrong; or opening to each 
soul that he wishes to use as an instrument in His hands just when 
and where that soul is to work. 

Obedience to this revelation, then, is the means of saving us 
from our selfishness. It keeps us in harmony with the law of our 
God, and preserves us from the commission of that which is sin in 
His sight. It keeps us to-day in a heaven here below. God has 
the reign, the rule, the government in that spirit, and that pro- 
duces heaven here. And as we continue, each hour of our life, 
thus to keep in harmony with this law, to be obedient to this 
higher revelation to us, to listen to the revealing of the Divine 
Spirit, we shall know of being saved day by day from our selfish- 
ness, and through that saving day by day reach a condition of 
harmony with our God, and be at peace with Him here ; and then, 
whether the summons shall come in the morning of life, in middle 
age, in old age — whether it shall come as in the twinkling of an 
eye, or after being prostrated upon a bed of suffering for long days 
and weeks, — we shall be found ready to meet our Father in the 
realm of eternal bliss, and shall hear His welcome, " Well done, 
thou good and faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few 
things, I will make thee ruler over many things ; enter thou into 
the joy of thy Lord." 

Nor ought there to be anything discouraging in this to the 
young. Some of you may think from the thought expressed 
that the work before you is endless — that there is no hope or 
prospect of reaching a condition where there shall be final rest 
from this conflict. You will find this to be true in all things per- 
taining to life. You may provide to-day for the wants of the 
body ; but you know we have also to make provision for the mor- 
row. There is no period in which we can entirely rest from our 



Essays and Sermons 451 

labors for the preservation and care of the physical life. We have 
to take the needed food to supply the demands of nature. In our 
intellectual culture, you know there is no state, no attainment that 
has yet been reached by the human family beyond which there is 
not something yet to be learned. We think we have finished our 
education, when, in fact, we have only just obtained the needed 
implements to continue that education, and if we be thoughtful, 
earnest, seeking minds, we shall always find something new to 
learn in science, art, and literature. 

It is equally true in our spiritual relations. We must not expect 
that we shall attain to a position where there is nothing more 
to learn or to do, any more than we can in those relations belong- 
ing to the physical and the intellectual. There is a growth and 
development of the soul life just as much as there is a growth and 
development of the physical and intellectual life. 

Nor are we in a condition where we can understand all of the 
requirements of the Divine Law, or where we should be able to 
obey them all, were they unfolded to us at once, or in the begin- 
ning of life. It is truly said, Sufficient unto the day is the evil 
thereof; it is equally true that sufficient unto the day is the good 
thereof. We have to do day by day just that duty which the Lord 
unfolds for us to do. Strength will be given to us to perform 
that duty ; if we are faithful in the performance of it we will get 
our reward. Obedience to the Divine law will be just as needful 
in the young as it is in those of use who have had more ex- 
perience in life ; and the result will be the same. And as faithful- 
ness in the performance of the duty of one day better fits us to 
perform the duty of another, and as it will be easier to act in har- 
mony with the Divine law the longer we obey its dictates, and thus 
control our selfish desires, it will thus become more and more 
easy for us to continue to control them. So there is no need of 
discouragement. 

If you, in your young life, were to have set before you all of 
the tasks in the physical world you are required to do, it would be 



45 2 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

appalling. You would scarcely find ambition sufficient to enter 
upon any of the duties of a business life; but as each day's duty 
comes, with the strength given you may perform that duty. And 
you know you go on until it becomes easier and easier to carry on 
any of the forms of business in which you may be engaged. 

This is equally true in regard to our working out our soul's sal- 
vation. If all were at once to be demanded of us, — every sacrifice 
we have to make, every duty we have to perform, — there is no 
human mind that would not be appalled, and shrink from entering 
into the work. But it is just as true in the spiritual as in the 
physical world, that, " As our days so shall our strength be." 

I want you then, beloved Friends, not to feel discouraged, dis- 
heartened, or appalled, because there will be continually before you 
these struggles in your spiritual life ; but you will find the Lord's 
arm will be underneath to sustain you, — that that arm will never 
be shortened, nor that ear heavy to hear your cries and to give you 
the needed strength to enable you to be obedient to all the demands 
of the Divine law. 



Essays and Sermons 453 



DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL. 

My thought has been turned this morning to the origin of evil 
as a subject of deep interest and importance, since upon our under- 
standing of it largely depends our idea of our duty as religious 
beings. I remember very early in life frequently hearing the 
expression that good and evil were set before us and we were 
given the power to choose which we would accept, and I think 
that that idea has more or less pervaded religious teaching down 
to the present time. This seems to me to involve the thought that 
God made evil, for no other power could create it. I have been 
unable to find anything that has been written in the past which 
sustains this idea. It is true that in the Scriptural account of 
the Garden of Eden it is said that the Lord planted in the garden 
all sorts of trees, and that He also implanted the tree of the 
knowledge of good and evil, but we must remember that He 
forbade man to partake of the fruit of that tree. Therefore in the 
beginning He did not place good and evil before man in the 
sense in which it is commonly understood. 

Then, again, I remember the teaching which, has been common 
all through my life, that evil came into the world through the 
yielding to temptation of our first parents, and has continued in the 
world from a similar source, — that temptation coming from a 
satanic being to whom men generally give the appellation of the 
devil; and in order to substantiate this theory thore has been 
interwoven with it the idea that at some period or other an am- 
bitious angel in heaven, aspiring to be equal with God, fell, and 
because of that fall or because of the penalty which necessarily 
followed, an enmity sprang up between him and God, and he has 
ever since been endeavoring to thwart the designs of the Almighty 
in seeking to further the best interests of man. 



454 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

The inquiry always did come to me, whenever I thought of this 
idea, if Heaven be a place where God has the entire control, a con- 
dition or a place of entire happiness, what was it that could pos- 
sibly have induced an angel to attempt to thwart the purposes and 
laws of God? and I must confess that I have been entirely 
unable to satisfy my own mind how such a thing could be possible. 
It seems to me to be entirely inconsistent with all the thoughts I 
have of Heaven. We read that in the beginning, when the law 
was given man, the serpent appeared in the garden and sought to 
beguile the woman, and to induce her to believe that the penalty 
which the Almighty had said He would impose for the partaking 
of the forbidden fruit, would not be imposed. To that serpent is 
usually ascribed the idea of a devil, — that it was his Satanic Maj- 
esty in this form, alluring the woman to transgress the law of God. 
To me this is simply an allegorical illustration of the manner by 
which all rational souls have been tempted from the creation of 
man to the present day ; entirely separate from the idea of any 
distinct being who has the power to tempt and draw man away 
from his allegiance to the Divine. If we think for a moment 
what is involved in the idea of the existence of a being who can 
be tempting the vast numbers of the human family in every part 
of this globe at the same moment, we can readily see that we 
must ascribe to such a power the same omnipresence we ascribe to 
God. And it is not much wonder that in past ages the thought 
found a lodgment, and many adherents, that there were two 
gods, — the one a god of matter and the other a god of mind or 
soul; and that these two gods were continually at war with each 
other, the one seeking to seduce the man from allegiance to 
spiritual requirements, and the other lifting him above the domain 
of the sensual. Out of this grew that other idea that the more the 
man punished the body, the better it was for the soul ; the more 
he exercised control over the cravings and desires of the natural 
man, the faster would the soul live and grow in acceptance with 
God. And we are to-day not entirely rid of the idea that a life 






Essays and Sermons , 455 

of asceticism, a life of stern repression of everything that is 
joyous in the human life, is the true religious life. This is the in- 
heritance that we have received from the past, growing out of this 
idea of the existence of such an evil being, with God-like powers 
and prerogatives. In this idea the dominant theology of the world 
to-day has its basis. 

I refer to these things in order to contrast them with the view 
I wish to present before you this morning, because it seems to 
me there is a clearer and more rational idea of the origin of evil, 
and one which, when thoroughly understood, will do away with 
a great deal of the mysticism that surrounds the religion we pro- 
fess. I claim that God never made anything evil ; that it is true, 
as asserted in the account we have of the creation, although given 
in allegorical form, that when He had surveyed the workmanship 
of His hand, He pronounced it good, and not only good, but very 
good. I cannot conceive it possible that that being whom I re- 
gard as all love and goodness should have created anything evil, 
and I therefore conclude that whatever of evil man has ever 
known has been of his own creation, — created by his disobedience 
of a law that was intended for his good; a law good in itself. 
When God gave man all his powers and passions, when He gave 
him access to the tree of life and to the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil, that tree of the knowledge of good and evil was 
not designed for him to use as a part of his nature, but in order 
that he might be a free, intelligent being, that he might have the 
power of choice; for by exercising that power of choice rightly 
he would advance his interest more and enjoy greater happiness 
than if God had made him a mere machine and placed him 
in such conditions that he could not do otherwise than follow 
the law that was always leading to good. It is only in this way 
that we can possibly draw the conclusion that good and evil were 
set before man. God made it possible for man to reject His 
commands ; He made it possible for man to refuse the higher laws 
of his being as well as the lower ones, but he has always imposed 



456 - Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

a penalty for the disobedience of those laws, simply to induce man 
to become obedient for his own best good. Evil then came into 
the world first by the disobedience of our first parents. It is in 
the world to-day because of the disobedience of those who are 
living to-day; — not simply because it is an inherited quality, not 
simply because those who have lived before us did not do right, 
but because we ourselves do not do right. The same tree bearing 
the knowledge of good and evil is given to us ; we have the same 
liberty to partake of it to-day that any have had in any age of the 
world, and there is also the same law given us forbidding us to 
attempt to do it. I understand this to mean simply that man is 
not to allow himself to be governed in his spiritual relations by 
his own unaided will and judgment; that the Almighty intended 
in the beginning to keep, not only control and supervision, but 
direction of man's life, that He might preserve him from the 
commission of wrong, and thereby keep him as happy as it is pos- 
sible for him to be in the many vicissitudes incident to human 
life. If then these premises are correct there is no need for us 
to fear the existence of a being outside of us with co-ordinate 
powers with God. There is no necessity to look for or to anticipate 
that our temptations come from such a being, for we will find 
abundance of them, and all that we need to, all that we could pos- 
sibly overcome, without attributing them to the devil. If we will 
lay aside the prejudices of our early and later traditions, if we 
will gradually examine ourselves as we are, we will find, I think, 
that every temptation that assails us arises from within us, in the 
simple desire of some power or other within ourselves to be grati- 
fied improperly. It is not that the desire is wrong; there is no 
wrong in being tempted ; there was no wrong in the serpent seek- 
ing to beguile the woman. That serpent represents to me simply 
the cunning of the human will, the sophistry of the human mind, 
endeavoring to convince man that what he felt impressed upon him 
as the law of God would not be carried out. There was no 
special wrong in this ; there is no wrong in God's giving to man 



Essays and Sermons 457 

the will, the power of reason, the power to argue ; none of us 
will believe that that is wrong, and yet this is just what is repre- 
sented by the serpent. It is, if we look at our own individual 
experience, beautifully represented by the nature of the serpent, 
as cunning, as subtle, as crawling, as twisting, as twining; but 
the business of the man was to keep away from this ; not to look 
to this kind of reasoning, but to look to the direction of the 
Father. When he listens to this, then, represented by the char- 
acter of the serpent, his evil begins ; then his sin commences, not 
before. He does not need'to hold communication with any other 
being outside of himself ; he does not need to fear anything going 
about, in that figurative language, a creature like a roaring lion 
seeking whom he may devour; he has it all within himself. All 
temptation in man comes from the things- that were created by 
the Almighty and pronounced good. I care not what it is ; it 
makes not the slightest difference how presented, it has its origin 
in the improper use or gratification of some one or other of the 
laws which God has planted in man for good. He will find there 
the sources of all his temptations, and the origin of all the evil 
he knows. While there are evils afflicting mankind around him 
and from which he may suffer the consequences, they are not 
evils to him in the sense that they interfere with his happiness 
with his God ; they are not sent to him except as he allows himself 
to move along in the same tide or same channel. When we come 
then to the accident of position in which we are placed by our 
Heavenly Father, that we are surrounded by good instead of evil, 
good influences instead of those that are evil, except as we pervert 
the good influences, we may then discover the necessity there is 
of our listening to the voice of the Divine, in order that we may 
be saved from entering into or co-operating with those evil in- 
fluences. We may then readily learn why those who recognize the 
voice of God as speaking just as intelligently to the soul to-day as 
in any age of the world, recognize that that voice has come with 
what we call light, which sheds its abundant beams upon the un- 
derstanding of the human mind to-day for the further purpose of 



458 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

its preservation from the commission of evil. Its object is to light 
the soul of man and bring it to be obedient to the light of God ; 
to simply follow out the desires of the human just so far as they 
are necessary for man's well being ; to give latitude to the desires 
of his nature in every direction just so far as they are necessary 
to promote his higher interests, and no farther. And with 
this view of things, we may well see that no law could be writ- 
ten in a book that would be adapted to meet the conditions 
of every individual soul. As far as it goes, it might be true as 
the revelation that would be made to those who opened it, yet it 
could not be made sufficient to meet all the conditions of the 
human family. Let us remember that God is universal, that He 
takes cognizance of all His creation, that every soul is an object 
of His care, that while He numbereth the hairs of our head He 
does not allow the sparrow's fall to go unnoticed ; that we are ever 
in His presence. We may dispute His law and still be in His 
presence; we may allow evil to find a place in the heart and still 
be in His presence. But His presence, when it comes in these 
conditions, as a reprover, while we feel it destroys our peace, dis- 
turbs our happiness, is designed for our good ; He does not come 
there as an arbitrary being with feelings of passions or vengeance, 
because man has not done as he ought to have done ; He does not 
follow man with the penalty of violated law simply for revenge, 
and to satisfy or wreak His vengeance or anger, — He comes there 
in His omniscience to induce a return to God ; to plead with man 
to leave off the evil of his way and to submit himself to His 
higher and better direction, that he may thereby promote his 
higher happiness. 

Here, beloved Friends, is what I understand to be the design of 
the Almighty in imposing penalties for violated law, and in this 
lies the sum and substance of all I know regarding salvation. It 
is what it seems to me the position of man imperatively demands 
for his preservation, for keeping him from the commission of 
sin or yielding his heart to that which is evil. If any of us will 
carefully study our own selves, turn away from the dependence 



Essays and Sermons 459 

upon anything else outside of us, lay aside our prejudices, and 
carefully examine that which we have known for ourselves, we 
will find that there is not a day passes, scarcely a moment in our 
lives, that we do not need this kind of preservation, the aid of 
some power higher than our own, to keep us from yielding to the 
improper promptings of desire, and therefore the commission of 
evil, and right here, beloved Friends, to me comes in the beautiful 
lesson of the life of Jesus. The reasons I understand that dif- 
ferently from the interpretation which has been taught in the world 
are these ; Adam was not obedient to the law which God had given 
him ; he fell from that state ; he lost his place in Paradise. Others 
who followed him also lost their happy condition, not because he 
had, but through similar means. A state of idolatry grew up 
among the people ; while there was a recognition of the need of a 
worship of a higher power; while there was still implanted in 
their beings something which naturally taught them that there 
must be a dependence upon a power higher than their idols, yet 
because that being was invisible to the naked eye, because they 
couldn't hold a conference with it with the natural ear, they must 
fain make an image of their idea, and this led up to the idolatry 
which has so often marked the history of the world. They 
were then departing from their original condition, and still God 
loved them through all this, still He thought of them, and 
adapted His law to meet their condition, continually reminding 
them, however, through the prophets, that there was but the one 
God and Him only must they serve; continually drawing their 
attention away from the idolatrous worship into which they had 
been lapsing. Such was the condition of the world when Jesus 
came. Though the Israelites had been brought back from the land 
of their captivity, a condition brought about by their idolatrous 
worship, and while they had for the time being forsaken the 
worship of their idols, there was still the worship of the law; 
there was that which carried their attention to something outward, 
and so Jesus was sent into the world to live before them that 
perfect life, meeting the temptations and trials that surround the 



460 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

human family, tempted in all points, as we are, — that is, having 
the same passions and dispositions, the same propensities, the same 
powers with which the natural man is endowed, — passing through 
the temptations you are all familiar with when Satan is repre- 
sented as trying to tempt him (which temptations I understand 
simply refer to that which was going on in his own mind, hoping 
that the human will that dwelt within Him would permit Him 
to do something before the world to make them recognize Him 
as their king, as their deliverer, as their Messiah), but able to 
reject all this and simply carry out the purposes for which He 
was sent into the world, to show that there was a possibility that 
such a humanity could be controlled by the Divine Power dwelling 
in it, in its fulness, for the object for which He was sent into the 
world, showing that His salvation lay not in something that was 
to be done by something without Him, or something that might 
be done by and by, but that He was preserved from the commission 
of sin by constant continual obedience to what the Father required 
of Him, and so may we be. Such is my faith at least ; such is my 
religion. I have never been acquainted with any power that 
tempted me except that within my own self. That being properly 
used was always good. I might draw example after example to 
illustrate this thought, but I am speaking to intelligent people, 
who can carry out the thought perhaps just as well as I can. I 
ask you to examine it carefully, and see whether you cannot 
find a reason within yourselves and within your own lives for all 
the temptations you have ever known, and whether, when you 
have been preserved from these temptations, you did not find this 
preservation by listening to the voice of the Lord, to the higher 
power impressing on you what was right for you to do. 

I know that in these expressions I would seem to contradict the 
popular idea, so long entertained, that Jesus was the Saviour of 
the world. I know this thought strikes very closely in some 
minds. I realize its force, because of the reverence that has been 
paid in the past, and from the educational ideas that have been 
entertained, but I must, if I declare anything, declare what I know 



Essays and Sermons . 461 

to be true, though it may strike at some of these prejudices; 
though it may be different from that which many have held. I 
know how hard it is to break away from our early teachings and 
to dissociate in the mind those teachings from that which may 
really be true and which we have not heretofore comprehended. 
As I often have said before you at other times, I recognize Christ 
as the Saviour, but not Jesus. I make a distinction here; Jesus, 
the name of the humanity that appeared before men for the pur- 
pose of teaching man how to live ; Christ, the power of God, the 
spirit of God, as present in the heart of every man and every 
woman, to save from evil, to save from sin ; that the Christ 
dwelt in Jesus in its fulness, for He had a larger work to perform 
than we. He came to live that life before men, coming as their 
Messiah, to the Jews. Now Messiah does not mean saviour; it 
means anointed. Coming as the anointed of God among the Jews, 
to live before them that practical life, to show them, to prove the 
character of His teachings, that by obedience unto what they 
knew to be right they would be preserved from the commission 
of wrong, and man could be kept from sin, that which kept 
him, that which preserved him was the Christ, the power and the 
wisdom of God. The Son of God is a spirit. That Christ is 
present to-day in our hearts if we allow Him to come there ; that 
medium through which God reveals Himself to man and points 
to him the path which he has to walk in and which will preserve 
him from the commission of evil, is just as present in our hearts 
to-day as it was in Jesus. That is the Saviour I acknowledge; 
that is the Christ I acknowledge as my Saviour; the Christ I ac- 
knowledge as my Restorer. When I have committed a wrong, 
when I have yielded to the influences of passion, when I have dis- 
obeyed God's law, I have found in the cool of the day, in moments 
of reflection, that spirit of the Lord I call Christ communing with 
me, convicting me of my error, and pointing out the path to be 
pursued in the future that I may retrace my steps. That I under- 
stand to be my Christ, my Saviour, my Restorer, and I have found, 
as I have been obedient to it, it has always brought me back again, 



462 . Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

even though sometimes carrying me down into that deep humility 
of soul, requiring me to make open acknowledgment of my fault 
and of my mistakes. When we remember then, beloved Friends, 
that all these things are carried on within us, that each individual 
of us is responsible for the evil he commits, that every evil he 
knows, so far as himself is concerned, originates within himself, — 
when he becomes conscious of this fact, I claim it will make him 
more watchful over his life, he will feel a deeper responsibility 
resting upon him for his own happiness. When he can lay the 
blame upon another, when he can think that he is placed in posi- 
tions where he cannot help himself, because other and more power- 
ful influences are seeking to direct his life, he finds a sort of pallia- 
tion for the wrong done, and will not make the earnest, zealous 
effort to overcome the wrong that he will when he becomes con- 
scious that he himself makes his own sin by the transgression of 
that which he knew was right. This brings him then to realize 
that if he would be preserved from the commission of wrong, kept 
from entering into a state of evil, he must, because he cannot by 
his own powers or own reasoning, or his own will, thus control 
the promptings within himself, be dependent upon a power higher 
than his own; it will lead him then to seek for that power more 
earnestly, more strongly and more devotedly, that he may be pre- 
served from the commission of that which does so much to disturb 
and destroy his own peace, and in its effect on those upon whom 
he may exert an influence be also detrimental. 

When we find that there is within ourselves the power that will 
enable us to thus control the promptings of our desires ; that the 
Christ is not way off yonder, — as Whittier so beautifully expresses 
it, 

" The dear Christ lives not afar, 

The king of some remoter star, 

Listening at times with flattered ear 

To homage wrung from selfish fear; 

But here amid the poor and blind, 

The lame and suffering, of our kind, 

In lives we live, in prayers we pray, 

Life of our life, he lives to-day," — 



Essays and Sermons 463 

When we realize He is just as universally present in our hearts as 
the sunlight that illuminates the whole material world; we need 
not go back to men who lived in the past, nor need we go to 
those who are living in the present, however pure may be their 
lives, to know what this Christ would have us do to keep us from 
the commission of evil ; but we will find it right within ourselves 
if we will turn there and commune with it. It will lead us so that 
though the world may not always understand our actions, while it 
may condemn much that we do, yet we may be at peace with God, 
and may be prompted to do that which is good in the Divine sight, 
although it may not always meet the approval of man. 

O, beloved Friends, my heart warms with love toward you, as 
you are gathered here this morning; I am not speaking this as a 
criticism or to hurt ; but because I want to draw your souls nearer 
to God ; I want you to realize in life every day, and I want to 
see realized in all men's lives every day, the aspiration of that 
beautiful hymn, " Nearer, My God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee," — 
that it may not be simply the sound that is pleasant to the ear, but 
the experience of a life, and one that we may find around us every 
moment that we live, drawing nearer to God, recognizing His 
power and presence within us in our different vocations in life, in 
our social enjoyments as well as in our religious ones. While it 
will often restrain us from the commission of an act that will dis- 
turb our own happiness or interfere with the happiness of others, 
it will at the same time give latitude to all that is innocent and 
pure and blissful, to all that will enable us to bless ourselves and 
to bless our fellow-creatures. By blessing our fellow-beings, we 
bless ourselves the more. It enlarges the life; it leads us to do 
good, kind acts towards those who are in less favorable condition 
than ourselves. It leads us to help those who are in need, and 
at the same time to extend a loving feeling and kind, tender sym- 
pathy to those who may be in a spiritual condition under a state of 
depression, — the loving influence of a life led always by the Divine, 
as is so beautifully illustrated in the life of Jesus, in His going 



464 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

about doing good, declaring the truth, even though that truth was 
at variance with the professed theology of the day, constantly 
doing good to those who would persecute Him and who eventually 
put Him to death, — that I need not show in detail how it will be 
illustrated in our own lives in bur measure. 

O beloved Friends, let our religion become of this practical char- 
acter. Let us seek to satisfy ourselves as to what we are, what 
we may know, and we will find a vast field in which to employ our 
talent. We have God all the time, and we realize day by day there 
will be a growing, a deeper and a purer love for God, and a 
deeper, a broader, and purer love for man. 



Essays and Sermons 465 



THE SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION. 

" Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it 
shall be opened unto you : for every one that asketh, receiveth ; and he 
that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." 

I have not been unmindful that all over our land, and in fact 
in all Christian countries, the present is a day set apart for peculiar 
services with the view of commemorating the generally-under- 
stood resurrection of Jesus. It is a day, to the Christian world, 
of peculiar significance; and yet we who gather here have not 
found it our place to take part in these ceremonial observances, 
but have gathered in our usual unostentatious way for worship. 
And yet it may not be amiss that our thoughts shall be somewhat 
turned towards the lessons that are involved in these ceremonial 
observances, that we may draw therefrom some spiritual lesson 
which may fasten more deeply upon our minds the necessity of an 
entire dependence upon a spiritual Christ, knowing Him to have 
been arisen in our own hearts. 

While the text I have quoted does not seem to have as peculiar 
a significance or application toward these ceremonies, it neverthe- 
less has an application toward this spiritual understanding, and an 
aid to our spiritual advancement, by calling our attention indirectly 
to the necessity of a dependence upon the immediate presence of 
the Divine Spirit or Christ of God in our own hearts. 

To ask that we may receive, to seek that we may find, to knock 
that it may be opened unto us, involves first, the consciousness 
of our needs ; a consciousness that there is something we do not 
have, and which we cannot, by our own unaided powers obtain ; 
for this passage was designed to teach a spiritual lesson, and is, 
so far as I understand it, only applicable to man's spiritual needs 

30 



466 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

or wants. We are not to receive the things of this world simply 
by asking for them; we do not always obtain them by seeking 
for them, nor is the wisdom of the world always opened unto us 
by knocking. But in our spiritual life it is different. There must 
first come the consciousness that we need something more than 
we have; that the human powers, however highly they may be 
cultivated, cannot give us that which the soul life needs. This 
requires of us a humility of spirit, a humbling before the power 
that can give; it demands of us a recognition of a power higher 
than our own, — a power to which we have ascribed the name of 
God. And not only a recognition of a power omnipotent and om- 
niscient, as we call God, but of a loving Father. We are to recog- 
nize that even though we may be conscious we have not done all 
we should have done, or have done that which we should not 
have done, yet there is One to whom we can go, of whom we can 
ask, whom we may seek for the treasures of His knowledge and 
love. We may knock at this door assured that there will be, 
in accordance with our varied conditions, our varied needs, an 
opening to us. 

To those who have not wilfully trangressed a Divine Law, if 
there be any such ; who have done the best they could under the 
circumstances in which they have been placed, in living out the 
instructions that have been given them by those under whose care 
they have been placed, there will come a time, as there always does 
come a time, when there is a consciousness that this instruction 
does not meet all the needs of spiritual life. There is a longing 
in the soul for a higher knowledge or a clearer perception of the 
lines of duty that are requisite to follow. Then comes with this 
consciousness the need of asking, — that means prayer ; — an earnest 
inquiry into our own course of life, the difficulties by which we are 
surrounded, the course which may be best for us to enter, by which 
we may receive that which we are desiring. It is, in short, an 
introversion of spirit, an earnest examination of ourselves, as to 
what we are and what we may really need. 



Essays and Sermons 467 

To aid us in this work, the Divine Father has placed within each 
one of us a witness for Himself, as we usually term it. We some- 
times call it the Inner Light, but we mean the Spirit of God, the 
Christ of God, — the attribute of Deity by which He holds this im- 
mediate communion with the souls of the children of men. 
When we thus recognize our needs, and become willing to ask that 
they be supplied, and at the same time ask with the feeling that 
not our will but the Lord's will shall be done, we will assuredly 
receive, and receive just that which is needed for us ; just that 
which is necessary for us to know, to understand or to do. And 
while it may not be just in the line we desire, while it may not 
satisfy the ambition of the human mind, yet if we are willing to 
receive it, to accept it, to follow it, we shall find it will produce 
for us just that condition our spiritual nature most needs, it will 
place us in that line of action which will best promote our own 
interests and the interests of those with whom we are brought in 
contact. 

The revelation of that law then is the recognition of that higher 
power, or Spirit of God, and brings us to a condition of ex- 
perience where we know for ourselves that Christ is risen in our 
hearts. Not necessarily as a resurrecting power, for there could 
be no resurrection until there was a death, but it is not requisite, 
it was not designed by the Father, that man should enter into a 
state of death in order to be resurrected, to know Christ arisen. 
Death is an abnormal condition, produced by man's transgressions. 
But along this same line of obedience in the changing from the 
government of the powers of the man to the government of the 
powers of the Spirit, there is this rising of the Christ in the heart 
as a law-giver, a director, and a rewarder, bringing to us happi- 
ness, or, in other words, a heaven within us, as the result of our 
obedience to it. 

Here then we have this blessed promise, as a word of encourage- 
ment to us, that when we find ourselves in these conditions, when 
we need more light, or a clearer understanding than we have, the 



468 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Christ of God is ready to rise in our hearts and supply all our 
needs. And while we may find much help in the use of the instru- 
mentalities which God has so kindly given, yet there are periods 
when this cannot effect the work for us, — when there must be a 
close affiliation between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God, or 
the Christ of God, that in this experience we may realize that 
Christ has risen in our heart, and the work of regeneration has 
been commenced. It may not be at once fully accomplished; it 
is not always the work of a moment, — in fact I do not believe it 
is ever the work of a moment. No man changes his whole course 
of life or whole line of thought in a moment. He may form reso- 
lutions at once ; he may see before him what he believes to be the 
path of duty, and he may resolve to enter that path. He may 
covenant in his heart with this Divine Spirit that in the future he 
will follow and be guided by it, but he will find his higher progress 
in endeavoring to be obedient to it. He will find that there will be 
many times of faltering, if not actual falling, and he will find, if he 
continues faithful, if he neither falters nor fails, that there will be 
larger and wider openings ; and more and more of the human 
to bring into subjection. The law which man is to obey is not 
all given at once ; the work is gradual ; — the Christ risen in the 
heart, as we are obedient to it as we follow its directions, as we 
receive that for which we are working, makes a work and a de- 
mand for more; and this can only be found by a continued life 
of humble obedience to what this Christ power opens unto us. 

Then again from that condition when the mind is clouded and 
darkened by events of life over which it has no control, when dis- 
appointments cross our path, when afflictions come, when our 
loved ones are removed, or when there come periods of depression, 
and we cannot understand why they are permitted, there is an out- 
reaching feeling, an earnest desire for that same light, that same 
clearness of view and enjoyment of rest that has been known 
before. To those then this text applies with equal force, and if 
we ask rightly, if there be in the heart the uprising of prayer, not 



Essays and Sermons 469 

always formulated in words, but in the earnest desire of the heart, 
that the Father may, in His own time, remove these untoward 
conditions, if there be a willingness to patiently bear until the Lord 
shall in His own way remove them, or bring us to that conscious- 
ness which shall relieve the pressure of the burden under which 
we are resting, we shall find that the Divine Father, by His Christ 
within us will reach this condition, and that our text is quite as 
applicable to it as to the other to which I have referred. If He 
who numbereth the hairs -of our head, without whose knowledge 
the sparrow is not permitted to fall to the ground, and who is 
ever cognizant of all the souls that He has created, knows the in- 
dividual needs of each, and will apply to each just that remedy that 
is needful for him; if there be this humble condition, willingness 
to ask, willingness to seek, willingness to knock — the answer will 
be sure. 

Then too the text has an equal application to those who have 
neglected or refused to be obedient to the law unfolded to them. 
These are the wilful transgressors of divine law, who enter into a 
spiritual death; these are they who reap the reward or wages of 
sin, for this is death. A wilful transgression of a known law ; the 
commission of a thing which we know to be wrong, and the 
omission of a thing which we know to be right, — this produces the 
death to the soul, the loss of divine life, and consequent unhappi- 
ness and misery,— a loss of heavenly condition, and one from 
which men need a resurrection. 

As Jesus said further on in His testimony : " He that believeth 
on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." If there still be a 
recognition, as there will be in the minds of those who have for* 
saken the true instructor, their real Guide, their real Saviour, that 
they have done that which they know to be wrong, there is yet a 
consciousness that there is a power higher than their own, a power 
not only able, but willing, to save. They know from the convic- 
tion of what we call conscience, the disturber of their rest and 
quiet, that that power is pleading with them : that power is meeting 



47° Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

with them as it met with our first parents in the garden, and call- 
ing in our cool, reflective moments to us in that familiar language, 
" Adam, where are thou ? " bringing before us a recognition of our 
real state, or what we have lost. Then, in that state of feeling, in 
that realization of our needs, in that desire to go back again to 
the condition whence we have fallen, to realize again a state of 
happiness, we may ask for forgiveness, we may ask for strength 
to cease doing the wrong and to strive to do the right. And he 
that asketh under these conditions will receive the strength, will 
find the power underneath to support, that will enable him to go 
through all the baptisms requisite, even if it be the deep humility 
of acknowledging- his error before men, in order to again know 
of this state of life. For this is the Christ that thus communes 
with him, that thus shows him his real state, that thus makes him 
cognizant of what he has lost, — who becomes the resurrection, the 
risen Christ. He knows in his practical spiritual experience what 
is meant by a resurrection from the dead in the spirit life. He 
knows that that condition of death into which he had entered 
because of his trangression, is removed, and he is brought again 
to enjoy the loving kindness and care of an all-loving Father. 

Here then, beloved Friends, it seems to me our text reaches 
out to almost every condition in which the human family may find 
itself placed. A beautiful, encouraging promise, but which re- 
quires work on our part ; we cannot sit down at our ease and ex- 
pect that the Lord is going to do the work without our co-operat- 
ing with Him. There is labor in seeking; there is an earnest work 
in knocking; there must be abasement of soul in prayer to ask, 
and then we will receive all that we require. In young life, in the 
commencement of our religious experience, there is much that dis- 
tracts our attention and often surrounds our pathway with doubt. 
We are wont to look to those older and more experienced in re- 
ligion as guides or instructors, who can unfold the mysteries or 
the doubts that surround us, and to a large extent they may be 
able to do so, but to some states and some conditions they have 
not the power, unless it be specially given for a special occasion. 



Essays and Sermons 471 

Each of us has enough to do in his own individual work. We 
have all of us to be continually, if I may so use the expression, 
asking ; we no sooner receive that which we desire to-day, we are 
no sooner at rest from doubt, no sooner in a condition of peace 
because we have ceased from doing the evil of the past, than new 
duties confront us, new doubts may arise, new temptations may 
come; and this is why the injunction is given to watch and pray, 
and that continually. There must be a constant watchfulness ob- 
served by us all through our life, not only by those young in years, 
buoyant in spirit and full of ambition, for whom life seems bright, 
but to those further advanced in life, who have seen much of life's 
conflicts and sorrows, who may have, in your view, reached ex- 
perience that would seem to place them above and beyond these 
conditions which assail you; yet nevertheless we have to be con- 
tinually on the watch, continually asking; we have to be contin- 
ually seeking that knowledge needed to guide us every day we 
live, that may preserve us from entering into anything that is 
wrong, from disturbing our own peace, or from casting an in- 
fluence that shall hinder others in their way. 

I would, then, as the lesson of the day for us, with these spirit- 
ual views of the rising or the resurrection of Christ, that we shall 
closely examine the condition in which we find ouurselves, and see 
what we need. Do not let the mind turn too much to the outward ; 
do not dwell too much upon that which has occurred in the past, 
except as that may be used to aid us in the present. The same 
Divine Father that guided His children in the past is to-day guid- 
ing us, if we will. There is no change in Him ; the only change 
that man knows regarding Him is that which meets his condition 
of change. We know that in the world there is constant change ; 
our experience has widened and widened, and we see things in a 
different light from that of years ago. We see that there is need 
of a different experience for us, as we are thus widened and broad- 
ened in our experience; but it all comes from the one loving 
Father, who gives us light adapted to our varied conditions. We 



47 2 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

may well look reverently back upon the past for lessons to guide 
our feet, or as incentives to be like those whom we revere and 
honor and love. Yet we should remember that as they were 
faithful in their day, as they gathered their rich experience by 
their own asking, by their own seeking, not by ours, so must we 
gather by our own asking and by our own seeking ; but we may in 
our moments of depression or doubt be assured the strength to do 
our own asking in the right and proper way. We want never to 
forget the fact that each soul to-day is just as much under the im- 
mediate care of the Divine Father as any soul ever was ; that He is 
still as near our souls to-day as He has been to any souls in any 
days that have passed; that He is just as capable, just as willing, 
to reveal to each soul to-day just what that soul needs, as He ever 
has been in any age of the world. 

There is need for our praying lest we be tempted to run into a 
sort of pseudo-idolatry of the things that have occurred in the past. 
There is danger in our looking backward too much. There is 
clanger in building our faith upon the faith of our fathers, because 
by so doing we may overlook that which the Lord requires of us, 
and may weaken our power to attain our own higher happiness or 
exert an influence for good over others; but this by no means 
indicates that we may not rightly esteem all the works of the past, 
or reverence the faithfulness of our fathers. If, however, we at- 
tempt to live upon their faithfulness, we become only traditional 
professors, and not those who have come into the real possession 
of the truth, for which there is a longing in every soul. 

I have never yet met one human being, even of those who have 
yielded to the power of passions and appetites, who did not pos- 
sess a spark that could be awakened, that showed a longing for a 
better condition; and it is from that longing, from a recognition 
of what that longing means, that there comes, if there ever does 
come, a real asking in humility, a real seeking or knocking in this 
true humility, and to those who do thus ask under all these condi- 
tions, the Lord will be found to be near to aid, to uphold and to 
sustain. 



Essays and Sermons 473 



THE LAW OF LOVE. 

I have been deeply impressed this morning with the lesson 
contained in the answer given by Jesus to the scribe when he 
asked Him the question, " What commandment is the first of all ? " 
Jesus answered, " The first is, Hear, O Israel ; The Lord our 
God, the Lord is one ; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and 
with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater 
than these." 

" Upon these two commandments hangeth the whole law, and 
the prophets," and it seems to me that Jesus might have added 
also, " all of my teachings/' They seem to sum up the whole of 
the duties which belong to us, as immortal souls, to perform in 
this life in order that we may be kept in unison with our Heavenly 
Father, and be able to receive the crown of happiness which He 
designed we should enjoy. The thought comes to me that if this 
be true, if within these commandments are summed up all of these 
duties, the world has yet much to learn in regard to its religious 
thought and action. When we remember how much of dogma 
there is extant amongst professing Christians ; how strenuously 
each sect seems to be disposed to present its own particular thought 
as necessary for man to live up to ; how the attention of mankind 
is called to beware of the anger or wrath of God ; how it is kept 
daily before us that unless we are obedient to or accept the 
dogmas which men have enunciated in past ages, we shall lose a 
state of happiness in the eternal life, and that for fear of losing 
that condition we must accept these doctrines of belief in God ; — 
(in this way keeping prominent before the thought of the world 
the idea of fearing God instead of loving Him) : — when we think 



474 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

of these things must we not believe that there is much yet for 
the Christian world to learn in order that they may rightly appre- 
ciate the character of God as the Creator and Father of all, and 
the relations that we are to bear to one another as his children? 
The enunciation in this answer of Jesus as recorded by Mark 
is that the Lord our God is one. There are not many gods whom 
we are to obey. There is but the one Lord, the one God, the 
one Creator, the one Father, and our highest duty is to love Him. 

When we think what this involves we may readily discover 
why it is so. From Him we have received our being ; from Him 
we derive every blessing which we enjoy in life, all of the grand 
powers with which He has endowed man, and all the capabilities 
by which those powers are cultivated. All that we receive that 
really enhances human happiness is derived from Him, either 
through the direct ministration of His power or by the operation 
of the laws he has instituted for the government and control of 
men. 

Then there are many things which occur to the mind which 
seem to be foreign to the idea that this great Creator is a God of 
Love. When we turn from our blessings and number our sor- 
rows, when we remember the vicissitudes through which we are 
passing and have passed, which so largely interfere with what we 
regard as essential to our happiness, we are sometimes tempted 
to indulge the thought that if God is all love, if He is the powerful 
being that we believe Him to be, if He is everywhere present and 
therefore cognizant of our condition, He might interpose His power 
to save us from those things which so annoy, so disappoint, so 
sorely try us. And yet those of us who have advanced to middle 
life, or to old age, as we look back over our experience, find that, 
when we have rightly viewed all these vicissitudes, when we have 
passed so far beyond the past that we can look upon them with- 
out the present disappointment or sorrow they inflict, they have 
been a means of deepening our trust, and of preserving us from 
many things that otherwise might have more largely interfered 
with our real happiness. 



Essays and Sermons 475 

God, in giving us the power to choose whether we will obey or 
disobey His law, in making us finite beings and incapable by that 
finiteness of penetrating the future, in making our human judg- 
ment, by reason of that finiteness, weak and liable to mistakes, — 
has nevertheless placed us in such a position that we may reach a 
higher degree of happiness than if He had made us mere machines 
that must always be arbitrarily governed by His power. 

We know we do not realize in our life experience the sweetness 
that comes from the joy of rest unless we have been laboring. 
We do not realize the full benefit of a healthy, sound, vigorous 
body until we have been deprived of that health and prostrated 
upon beds of sickness. We scarcely realize the enjoyment that is 
ours as each day passes when we are free from pain, nor can we 
understand or know the blessed privilege until we have suffered 
pain of greater or lesser intensity. So it is in our spiritual life. 
Were it not that there are times when we are brought under 
suffering because of our mistakes, and sometimes because of our 
wilful disobedience, we never should realize the fulness of all the 
enjoyment that will come to the soul that is obedient. These are 
some of the conditions in which God has placed us in His perfect 
wisdom, that we might derive therefrom lessons of instruction, 
and be drawn nearer and nearer unto Him in our love for Him. 

When we are asked to love God with all our heart, and with all 
our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength, we 
are asked to consecrate the whole life to Him. We are not asked 
to accept dogmas or theories. We are not asked to place our 
dependence for the government of life to keep it in harmony with 
God upon any man-made condition ; but it is to bring the whole 
heart to love Him ; to make Him the first object of our affections. 

Now, when we consecrate our affections upon one human being, 
what do we do ? Do we not act towards that human being unsel- 
fishly? Do we not seek to gratify that being in so far as lies in 
our power? Are we not willing to make sacrifices of our own 
desires, of our own plans, of our own ways for His good ? This is 
well represented in the relationship of parent and child. When a 



476 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

parent, with the natural love that flows out to the child, also loves 
it with the higher love born of God, there are no sacrifices the 
parent will not make for that child. We recognize the need there 
is not only of exertion to provide for its physical wants, but 
of exertion and sacrifice to care for the mind and the im- 
mortal soul; and we expect of that child in return such a pas- 
siveness, such a willingness to be governed, restrained, directed 
and controlled by the parent, that when the parent shall ask of 
the child the performance of a work or service there will be no 
plan, no desire of its own too dear for it to drop willingly and 
cheerfully, that it may do the bidding of the parent. 

So this represents to me the relation in which we should stand 
to the Father and in which we do stand if we really love Him. It is 
one thing for us to acknowledge by the mouth and by the lip that 
we love God ; it is quite another to do what the Lord demands of us. 
When I remember that in keeping this commandment to love God 
each one of us stands upon an individual and separate platform 
before Him, it seems manifest that no one course of life or action 
can be marked out which should be followed by all mankind in 
order to manifest love towards God. The law proper for our 
government, the lessons needful for us to learn, the requirements 
necessary for us to obey in the performance of the divine will, 
must necessarily change in accordance with the different condi- 
tions in which He has placed us, the different powers which He 
has given us, the varied circumstances by which we are sur- 
rounded. So each soul must think and learn for itself that which 
is necessary for it to do in order that it may live in harmony with 
God. 

Just so it is in our daily outward life. We know there can be 
no one law that will regulate the government of a family. The 
parent with a number of children cannot make one law that will 
be adapted to the whole. He has to study the different disposi- 
tions and capacities of each mind and then frame the rule neces- 
sary to meet that condition. So the teacher of a school is re- 
quired to exercise a similar judgment in the assignment of the 



Essays and Sermons 477 

lessons. There must be a study of the capacity of the child, and 
an adaptation of the method to that capacity, or else no progress 
can be made. So the Father in His Omniscience knows what 
method is adapted to the needs of each one of us ; and if we love 
Him supremely and are willing to give Him our whole heart, we 
shall then be willing to do what He requires of us in the govern- 
ment of our life or actions, the control of our powers and passions, 
and the keeping in check of our undue desires. Then we shall 
listen to the voice of God, not in trembling before Him because of 
His mighty power, but for the love that we bear Him as our 
Father and God. 

When we come to act thus towards God from this feeling of 
love, when we come to realize the relationship in which we stand 
with Him, and that we may receive from Him directly, without 
any instrumental means, unless this may be necessary under a 
certain condition, the law needful to obey and the counsel neces- 
sary to follow to control our lives, — we shall then, if we truly 
love Him, and if we do not stand in undue fear of Him, enter 
upon that kind of work which He requires cheerfully and willingly. 
This will first be the purification of our hearts and our lives. This 
is always the first work. As Jesus said, If any man will come 
after Me he must first deny himself. The divine law commands 
us to govern the appetites and the dispositions. This is our work. 
When they are measurably brought under control, and when the 
Lord finds that we are willing to be directed in small things, there 
will be given to us greater things to do. These small things to 
do for Him will have their relation to their influence over the 
minds of others with whom we may be brought in contact. There- 
fore we may discover how closely these two commandments are 
intermingled and interlinked. Loving our neighbors as ourselves 
covers the whole line of action in relation to each other. What- 
ever course of life we are leading, if we are obeying these com- 
mandments of God there must be nothing in the heart but love 
towards them. Thus we keep out angry feelings ; thus we control 
every jealous thought ; thus we keep in check every envious desire. 



478 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Thus we are kept from misrepresenting our brother, and from 
assuming a seat of judgment over him because of a difference 
of views or in our lines of thought. Thus we would be led to 
look leniently upon the mistakes of others, to look more carefully 
at the motives by which they appear to be actuated than at the 
mistakes they make. We should bear in our hearts a feeling for 
them such as we would have them bear towards us under similar 
conditions. Such a feeling would regulate the business of life, 
the affairs of the world, the thoughts we entertain in our social 
interminglings, the ideas that prevail among us in political life. 

There seems to be a widespread belief that in matters outside 
of religious exercises or business duties it is right for men to 
indulge feelings towards their brothers which are entirely an- 
tagonistic to this principle of love. If in our political movements 
there are those who differ from us in thought, we are apt to judge 
them from our standpoint of view and not very charitably. If a 
man be brought before the public as a candidate for official posi- 
tion, and he be of the opposite party, there is a disposition even 
among professing Christians to misrepresent him ; to bring into 
prominence every fault, every mistake of his life, and to present if 
possible that life in its very darkest colors ; but if he be in harmony 
with the movements of the party to which we belong, we are dis- 
posed to laud him, to overlook every mistake, and to present only 
the fair side of his life. 

All this does not have its origin in that love that is demanded 
of us as Christians and believers in God ; and notwithstanding all 
the professions that are being made of belief in Christianity, of 
belief in God and His power, there is left very much for us to 
do in banishing these conditions from the world, and in bringing 
about a deeper and more loving condition among the family of 
men, whereby our future happiness shall be advanced. 

Jesus in His teaching brings emphatically before us the nature 
and the effect of this love. He not only presents to us the idea 
that we shall love those that love us, but also that we shall love 
our enemies. " Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love 



Essays and Sermons 479 

thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love 
your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you ; that ye may 
be the children of your Father which is in heaven." Here is a 
broader love than that which extends merely to those that love us. 
It presents to me the thought that we are to keep out of our 
hearts every wrong impulse and feeling, and everything that is 
opposed or antagonistic to the spirit of love. It is not that we are 
to take those who are our enemies, those who may persecute us, 
and those who may despitefully use us and hate us, into com- 
panionship as we do those who love us ; but it is to keep out of 
the heart everything opposed to love, all feelings of anger, and 
everything like vengeance and revenge, because the moment we 
indulge anything of that character, that moment we rob ourselves 
of our own peace, no matter how great may be the provocation. 
No matter how much the wrong, or how deep the persecution, 
how strong the feeling that we have been unjustly dealt by, the 
moment we attempt to retaliate, even in thought and feeling, even 
if it does not find expression in words, it destroys our own peace ; 
and if it find expression in words it makes the wound the deeper, 
the harder for us to forget. Every such expression leads to more, 
and we are finally led on to say what we would not have said if 
we had controlled ourselves in the beginning. 

So when we come to examine the lesson which grows out of 
this teaching of Jesus, we find that it affects the whole of the 
human conduct. It brings us face to face not only with our God, 
but with our own responsibilities in life. We who claim to be 
members of the Society of Friends, who recognize the truth that 
the Lord God is one, that the Christ power is one with Him, and 
one with that Spirit of the Father through which He reveals to 
man a knowledge of these duties by which he comes to understand 
the character of God as love ! that through this revelation and by 
our obedience to it we may receive a knowledge of all that is need- 
ful for us to do, — I would this morning, my friends, that we each 
of us enter, I with you and you with me, into a more close inves- 
tigation of the feelings we have entertained, the actions we have 



480 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

pursued, the thoughts we have allowed to find a place ; and see 
how far we are living up to the high profession we are making 
before the world. 

There is no need of our going after this form or that form of 
belief. There is no need of our burdening our thoughts with 
anything in these dogmas that have been so long inflicted upon 
the world. For we come into union with the Father, not by what 
we believe, but by what we do and act. We shall not be accepted 
in the great eternal life by the soundness of our belief, but by the 
purity of our lives. If we carefully study all the teachings of 
Jesus, we shall find that they point to just this kind of purity of 
life, and to the need of each individual soul knowing for itself 
of loving God supremely. Out of this knowledge will come the 
actions which manifest this love for God in us by the love we 
bear our fellow-man. For, as the Apostle says, " How can a man 
love God whom he hath not seen, if he loveth not his brother 
whom he hath seen." There is no way by which any man can 
show the world that he has given his heart to God, and that he 
loves Him supremely, but by his conduct and actions among his 
fellow-men. The mere saying, I love God, will not prove it. And 
said James, " If any man say that he loveth God, and walketh in 
darkness, he lieth, and doeth not the truth," because if we love 
God we must walk in the light, as God is the Light. That is, we 
must be obedient and follow the direction of God, which we, by 
our love for Him, recognize as all-sufficient. The all-powerful, 
the all-knowing One, in His love for man, demands of us only 
that which lies in our power to do, and which, if done, will con- 
tribute to our own peace and happiness, and also have an influence 
for good over those with whom we are brought into contact. 

This religion is practical. It is a religion that we can carry 
with us into our every-day walks. It is not only a religion that 
belongs in the meeting-house, but one which we can carry with us 
into our business affairs, our social relations, our political actions, 
and everywhere we go. Is there not need of such a religion in 
the world to-day? Is there not yet much for us to learn, and a 



Essays and Sermons 481 

great deal for us to leave out, in order to be true to the professions 
we make? Has not our God been long-suffering? Has not He 
been forbearing and kind through all these years of the evolution 
of man from the barbaric state to the high civilization which we 
now enjoy? The student, as he surveys the past, sees how much 
man has yet to learn. He sees what God has been doing for man ; 
how man has been blind to his own best interests ; how he turned 
first to idols of wood and stone ; then to idols of creeds ; then to 
idols of theological dogmas. The longer I live the more I feel 
constrained to present these practical truths, and to call the atten- 
tion of my fellow-men away from dependence on all those things 
which tend to draw them away from this love of God and of their 
fellow-men. I see more and more the simplicity of the work of 
religion, because as I advance in years I find that it becomes 
more and more a practical work. When I look back over my own 
life, when I study the lives of those with whom I have mingled, 
when I see the honest intention of many who embrace these theo- 
logical ideas as being the all-important ones, when I see how 
much there is to do in the world, how little these influences con- 
tribute towards bringing men into this practical life, how men 
are depending upon those who are placed in positions to expound 
those ideas which they regard as the truth, how little the practical 
religion of life is growing among us, how there is still this cling- 
ing to the old theological dogmas, how little there is of the sub- 
jection to the Divine will and to the outflow of that broader love 
which shall bind all into one fold, — when I think of these things 
I feel more and more moved to call the attention of my fellow- 
men to the practical duties of Christian life, to the necessity of 
recognizing God as a God of love, and not a Being that we are 
to fear ; not a Being whose power is exerted over men in wrathful 
action toward them, but in the most powerful way for their good, 
that of love. 

It is only love that could have led God so long to bear with the 
waywardness of man. It is only Divine love which could have 
led Him to give His law to us and to adapt it to our needs, and 

3i 



482 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

to wait so long for us to yield. When we disabuse our minds of 
all this idea of fearing Him, of obeying Him lest we should meet 
His judgment, lest He should pour out upon us the vials of 
His wrath, — when we forget all this, and come to that feeling 
where we can as children, even though we feel as sinners before 
Him, ask God to be merciful to us, to pour out upon us His love, 
to unfold to us yet more clearly His power and requirings, to 
give us strength to obey, and to recognize that He is a God of 
love, long-forbearing, and long-suffering, — when we can bring 
ourselves into this state, we shall realize that God is love and rules 
by love. 

When the soul comes to this condition it will be far easier for 
it to overcome all temptations, all trials, all that tends to disturb 
and destroy its peace. For we know there is no influence so 
powerful to move us to act among our fellow-men as that of love. 
There is nothing that will lead us to be so unselfish in our deport- 
ment, there is nothing that will lead us to make greater sacrifices, 
than the love we bear for our fellow-beings. So there is nothing 
that will make us so self-sacrificing, so ready to carry out the 
command of Jesus to deny ourselves, as the realization that we 
love God, and that God loves us. 

I remember as I stand before you that touching, tender invita- 
tion of Jesus, reaching out to all conditions which it is possible 
for. the human mind to experience, "Come unto me, all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my 
yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in 
heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is 
easy, and my burden is light." 

Here is presented the means by which the human soul can enter 
heaven, whether in the present or in the eternal life. " Come unto 
me." Can we come to God unless we love Him ? If we stand in 
fear of Him can we go to Him with confidence to cast our care 
and anxiety upon Him? Does not the child that loves the parent 
go to that parent and unfold all the troubles of his heart? Does 
the child that stands in awe of the parent who has controlled it 



Essays and Sermons 483 

by force, unfold to such a parent that which he desires to be 
instructed about? Is there not a fear, a shrinking away, and a 
keeping within itself of the struggles of its heart? The same 
thing is true in our relationship to God. If we cannot love Him 
and give our hearts to Him, and surrender ourselves to Him, and 
recognize Him as a God of love, we can never come to Him and 
find that rest of the heart which we yearn for. But when we go 
to Him saying, " Here I am, Lord ; do with me what thou wilt ; 
I recognize not only Thy great power, but also Thy great love, 
and I am willing to be guided by thee," — then this leads us to 
follow the example of Jesus, who was meek and lowly of heart. 
There will not be in this any assertion of the human will in opposi- 
tion to the Divine, but simply a surrender to it by choice and not 
through force. " Take my yoke upon you." That is, bring your 
will to conform to my will, and you will find rest to your souls. 
Why? Because God loves us and we love God, and in that holy 
bond of love there comes the rest and peace and joy which shall 
satisfy every craving of man's immortal soul, either in the present 
life or the life eternal. 



484 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 



THE INWARD GOSPEL. 

" I am not ashamed of the gospel : for it is the power of God 
unto salvation to every one that believeth ; to the Jew first, and 
also to the Greek." 

I feel that I can adopt this language of Paul to the Romans as 
my own this morning, for I understand the gospel to be the 
revelation of God's will in each individual soul. It is designed 
especially to assist each soul to overcome whatever of besetments 
lie around it in life, and to bring to it as much of happiness as it 
is possible for us to enjoy here; as well as to fit us for whatever 
there may be in store for us in the eternal life. 

That gospel is both written and unwritten ; spoken and unspoken. 
Its most powerful preaching is within each rational soul. What- 
ever there is that falls from human lips, or may be traced by the 
human hand, of truth, has no higher office than to point or call the 
attention to the unspoken and unwritten gospel in each individual 
soul. 

The expounding of a text of Scripture, the enunciation of what 
an individual may believe to be true, the advocacy of doctrines, — 
all these, while right in themselves, may be productive of evil, 
because they may be so presented as to cloud the understanding 
of those to whom they are spoken or written, and turn their atten- 
tion away from the unwritten gospel, thus leading them to place 
their dependence upon that which can be at best but a broken reed 
to lean upon. 

In so far as I have any mission in the preaching of the gospel, 
I feel it is simply to call attention to those whom I may address 
to the unwritten gospel within themselves ; to try, so far as I may, 
from my own practical experience to illustrate the truth, that 



Essays and Sermons 485 

which I have known may be known by others ; that which has 
preserved me, may preserve them ; that which has produced 
happiness and joy to me, may produce the same in others. 
Whatever of preaching I may do can have no further power 
than this, to induce individuals to come to the same exper- 
ience that it has been mine to know ; for if it be true that the 
gospel is the power of God unto salvation, that power must exist 
within each of us, in substance the same in all, but differing in its 
ministrations with the different needs of each individual. 

For no man is like his neighbor: the circumstances by which 
we are surrounded are different ; the passions that may rule one, 
may not tempt another ; the appetite one may have to control may 
not be known to another; the desire that may injure one mind, 
may not be felt by another. So there may be a great difference 
between the conditions of human minds ; but the Infinite, He who 
knows the thoughts and intents of each heart, who understands 
each soul, can preach a gospel that shall be to it the power of 
God unto salvation. I know our attention is called very largely 
to the idea of a salvation we are to experience after death ; that 
we are told we must believe in God and believe in Christ, and in 
what God did and what Christ did for us, in order that we may 
experience this salvation ; that the gospel which Christ and His 
disciples taught was designed to effect something for us in the 
eternal life, and not so much for us in this life. So far as I am 
able to understand my own needs, as an individual, and so far as 
I have been brought in contact with the human family to under- 
stand their needs, it seems to me to be far more important for us 
to know something of the workings and power of this gospel in 
the present life, than to have our attention drawn only to that to 
be received in the eternal life. I may to-day find some passion 
presenting itself, which, if I yield to it, will destroy my peace ; and 
if I continue to yield to it, may destroy my hopes of happiness in 
the eternal life. Do I not, therefore, need a preservation from 
the consequences that will follow the gratification of that passion ? 



486 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

While an individual may be called by the Almighty to declare 
to me in general terms what will be my duty, he may not know 
exactly what is going on in my mind, or the power and the passion 
which I am required to control. I do not know that which is your 
besetment to-day. I do not know, unless there be a specific rev- 
elation given to me, what is needful for any one individual among 
you ; and only He who is omnipotent, He who knows the thoughts 
and intents of every heart, can know this. Therefore, while I 
may be called as an instrument to ask of you and of myself to be 
obedient, to do all that we know we should do, to be careful to 
abstain from all that would lead to wrong, to use the powers that 
we may be endowed with to overcome the temptations that beset 
us, yet nevertheless I cannot give you the strength. I cannot give 
you the power, nor can anyone give me the power, that will pre- 
serve me from the evils that lie in my path, or preserve you from 
the evils that lie in your path. Only God Himself can do this. 
This gospel is not the simple presenting to the ear, but to the mind, 
of the idea of truth. It is represented as the power of God unto 
salvation. It not only is necessary that He should bring to our 
attention the law for us to obey, the course of action necessary for 
us to pursue, but the power necessary to enable us to obey that 
law or pursue that course of action must be given us. It may, 
therefore, be clearly perceived that there is a necessity that this 
law should be spoken to each one of us. That is what we under- 
stand by the direct revelation of God to each soul ; and this is the 
foundation upon which rests the religious structure of the Society 
of Friends, — the doctrine of immediate revelation, or the preach- 
ing of the gospel (which is the power of God unto salvation), 
within each individual soul. 

But it is not only necessary that the gospel should be preached, 
but there should be on our part a belief in it. While Paul does 
not define the character of the belief required, yet it is, it seems 
to me, a proper and just inference that He meant belief in the 
power and authority of that gospel. If, then, the gospel be of 



Essays and Sermons 487 

the character I have presented, the revelation to each individual 
of the truth, duty, obligation or law necessary for him, there must 
be, on the part of the individual to whom that revelation is made, 
a belief in it ; this also involves the idea that there must be faith 
in God. Not only a belief in the law given, but a belief in the 
God from whom that law comes ; and not only the belief in Him, 
but a faith in Him ; because there is no such thing as believing in 
God, or believing that there is a God and that He is all-powerful, 
and yet having no faith in Him which will lead us to obey the 
specific law given by Him to each of us. 

Paul has said on another occasion : " Without faith it is impos- 
sible to please God." Without faith in Him, we shall not be 
willing to do that which He shows us to be necessary. Such 
a faith is born of a recognition that He is not only a God of power, 
but a God of love, — that by the giving of the law He designs to 
enable man to reach a higher condition of happiness than he can 
reach by his own unaided powers. By the power of this law man 
is enabled to control his passions and appetites ; thus keeping 
himself not only in harmony with God, or the laws of God, but 
in such a state as will be productive of the advancement of his 
higher interests. 

This faith may not be very strong at first, nor is it requisite 
that it should be, because the first duties that are required by 
this revelation to the individual soul are very simple in their 
character. But the deeper things that are shown us, the heavier 
obligations laid upon us, only come in the gradual growth of 
experience, and through the trial and proving of our fitness to 
accept what the Lord may require of us. If we are faithful in 
the small things, we shall be entrusted with a knowledge of the 
higher leadings of the Divine will. But so long as we turn our 
attention from the following of these requisitions of the Divine, 
so long as the mind is absorbed in our own selfish plans, so long- 
as we allow these dispositions and passions of our lower nature 
to control and regulate us, just so long we shall not find this gospel 
to be the power of God unto salvation. 



488 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

While Paul used the expression, " To the Jew first, and also 
to the Greek," I regard this as a simple form of expression to 
denote its universal character. Jesus came to the Jewish people 
as one of themselves, to proclaim the glad tidings of His gospel, 
which was to be so different in its operation from the law under 
which they were living. So as the spreading of that gospel was 
first to them, Paul uses this expression in writing to the Romans, 
who were of another race, showing its adaptability also to them ; 
so I conclude that Paul intended by these words to convey the 
idea of its universality. 

He also has this same thought in view when he presents the 
idea in this form : " The grace of God which bringeth salvation 
hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness 
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in 
this present world." The grace of God represents to my mind 
the loving kindness of God, given to man without regard to his 
condition, or his worthiness to accept it. It is represented as 
grace, because it comes from God's loving nature, designed for 
the good of man. It is only another form of presenting the idea 
of the preaching of the gospel to each individual soul. The law 
which is necessary that each individual soul should obey in order 
to reach its highest condition of happiness, that grace, that power 
of God unto salvation, is given to all men universally — to saints 
and sinners alike, — this is the only means by which man really 
understands what is right and what is wrong. We may be taught 
that such things are right and such things are wrong; we may 
accept these teachings because we have confidence in their source ; 
but the real things that are right or wrong in the sight of God 
we cannot gain any true knowledge of except through and by 
this revelation made immediately from God, — by the giving of 
this grace that bringeth salvation. Mark the term, — in the 
present tense : not " will bring salvation " sometime or other, but 
" bringeth it." When that grace comes into the heart of every 
man, it comes there teaching first the denying of all ungodliness 



Essays and Sermons 489 

and worldly lusts, and as man listens to it, brings to him sal- 
vation. 

This is why this term " grace " is synonymous with the term 
" gospel " in this connection : it is the power of God unto salva- 
tion. It is that which is most important for us to listen to, and 
its teaching is alike to all, adapted to meet the individual needs of 
all ; the avoidance of ungodliness, the control of everything within 
man which is ungodly in its character; the keeping of the mind 
free from the control of those influences that are unloving and 
unkind ; the banishing from the heart of all bitterness and harsh 
feelings, all disposition to misjudge and misrepresent a brother, 
all dispositions that lead to the spreading of slanderous reports, 
all dispositions that will lead us to say to a brother, " Stand thou 
there ; I am more holy than thou." All this is ungodly in its 
character, because God is love, and His justice and His mercy 
are reaching out unto all the children of men. 

Under the teachings of this grace we are to control the world's 
lusts, and all the cravings of appetite and passion, which, if in- 
dulged in, would lead to wrong, either within ourselves or in our 
actions towards others. 

This expression, " the world's lusts," may mean, as I said in 
the beginning, one thing to one, and another to another. Each 
must know for himself what particular power or passion he is 
called on to control ; in what things he is likely to indulge that 
bring condemnation. It may be the gratification of the appetites 
of the natural man ; it may be the indulgence of unkind thoughts 
or feelings in the heart towards his brother man. But, if he will 
listen to its teachings, the inward gospel will be a light to show 
him the path he should follow ; if he will rely upon it, the power 
of God unto salvation will enable him to walk therein. 

By the light of this inner gospel, each individual soul may see 
why it is necessary that it should be preached in every heart. There 
are very many people up and down the land who never enter a 
church, who seldom hear what is ordinarily termed the preaching 



490 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

of the gospel, to whom these glad tidings in the outward have 
not come ; and yet we scarcely find anyone, even among the 
savages, who does not have within him some sense of right and 
justice, some idea of a Divine Being, some religious rites growing 
out of that idea. The source of this universal knowledge of right 
and wrong in such various conditions, can be naught else but the 
teaching and the preaching of the inward gospel ; but we who 
claim to live in a more enlightened age, and have a recognition, 
through the working and higher cutivation of our intellectual 
powers, of the higher position that men may occupy, and the grave 
responsibilities such a knowledge imposes, know and recognize the 
truth, that if we would have our rights respected, we must respect 
the rights of others, — that when man gives way to such passions 
as lead him to act unjustly towards others, the individual and 
society suffer. We have learned this, not simply because we have 
read it in the Scriptures, — because it had been written by others, 
* — but because our contact with the world and our own experience, 
that which we have been made cognizant of in our own lives, 
proves it to be true. Hence I believe this gospel is preached to 
every individual, this grace of God comes to all to meet their 
condition. And it will not do for us, even in our apparently more 
enlightened condition, to lay down a law that those who are in 
the less enlightened or more barbarous condition shall follow. It 
will not do even to say, because we have received a higher law, 
that they who do not live up to our ideal have not received a law 
sufficient for themselves. We have this grace of God, this power 
given to man, teaching the denying of ungodliness itself, so far 
as we understand what ungodliness means, and the denial of the 
world's lusts, so far as we understand how far that denial must 
go. Those to whom much is given, of them much is required ; 
those to whom little is given, of them little is required. There- 
fore we need not stumble over the condition in which we find 
those who are occupying a lower plane than we do. We know 
that there is unfolded to each of us a law, which, if we obey it, 



Essays and Sermons 491 

will produce happiness ; if we disobey it, will bring unhappiness ; 
and that is the preaching of the grace of God to us. Its first 
office is to purify the soul from all that can tend to defile it ; to 
regulate the conduct of our every-day life, so that it shall not 
produce unhappiness among those over whom we may exert an 
influence. And then come the practical duties that are required 
of us to perform in our intermingling with the world ; we are to 
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present life. 

These are the evidences which we have to bear before the 
world, — that this power of God or grace of God hath brought 
salvation to us. To live soberly, means to me, to live with the 
sense of the responsibility which God has placed upon us as 
rational creatures, to use rightly the powers with which He has 
endowed us, and to improve the opportunities we are enjoying 
for the cultivation of these powers. It does not mean that we 
are, as religious beings, to carry a long face ; it does not mean 
that our religious life shall be so clouded with gloom that we may 
not enjoy the rich blessings which lie everywhere around us ; that 
we are to entirely suppress all of the desires of our human nature ; 
but it means that we are to use them rightly ; to use them in their 
proper places, and not to abuse them ; keeping before the mind 
first the highest duties, which we owe to God, and then so regu- 
lating our conduct that nothing shall be done by us which inter- 
feres with the direct revelation of his law. We are to live always 
righteously; which means the performance of just such duties in 
our relationship to our fellows as are pointed out by this revela- 
tion, this gospel or grace of God as needful for us. These duties 
vary in accordance with our capacities, with our endowments, and 
with our growth and experience. They may be simply those of 
living righteous lives, and doing quietly the duties that belong to 
us in the home life ; of controlling the passions there ; of keeping 
in check our selfish desires ; of acting towards other members of 
the family with that self-abnegation and self-sacrifice which in- 
duces us to seek their interests in preference to our own. The 



492 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Lord may have no call for us to go out into wider fields of service 
than this. It may be that others are called to go into the fields 
of philanthropy, to use there the powers God has given them for 
good ; and as some of them work in one of these fields, devoting 
their energies, under the Divine direction, to the amelioration of 
some class of sufferers among humanity, others may be devoting 
their attention to another class, and their lives also may be ap- 
proved in the Divine sight. We must leave the choice of this 
specific line of duty to the Divine direction. As each one does 
his work and service under that direction, there will be no jarrings, 
no disharmony. Thus, if we listen to the preaching of this gos- 
pel, and find ourselves preserved, in our line of conduct or duty 
under Divine direction, it will keep us from all those conditions 
of contention and strife which have so marred the history of the 
Christian world. 

Then comes, as the crowning of the whole, the godly life ; that 
life which evinces love in its broadest sense towards all; a life 
that cannot be lived in its fulness by us until we have made an 
earnest struggle to deny control to all those powers in us that tend 
to harm. There is not, I believe, a mere conformity to any one 
course of action or any one belief required of the Christian world 
by this gospel, — this power of God unto salvation. Thus in the 
preaching of this gospel by means of the written or spoken word, 
there may be divergent views expressed ; there may be a presenta- 
tion of thought differing in character for different conditions. 
But it is not essential that there should be an entire unanimity in 
words. This outward ministry is simply a means to invite and 
encourage one another to give close heed and attention to the 
unwritten and unspoken gospel in each individual heart. We 
need not be afraid that out of this there will come chaos and dis- 
order, for God is a God of order, and while He recognizes this 
divergence among the human family, while He recognizes the 
diversities of gifts, of operations, and administrations, as Paul 
declares, yet as each performs the work and service given him 



Essays and Sermons 493 

under the preaching of this gospel, all will be in harmony as well 
as in order. That which has brought so much of disharmony 
among the religious world has not been the diversities of duties 
and callings that men have entered into, called religious. It has 
often been that feeling that would stand in condemnation over a 
brother or a sister if they did not work in the same field in which 
we work ; because we did not accept in full the same ideas which 
they regarded as important to them. The contentions and strife 
which have marked the history of the Christian church, and which 
have separated us into sects, and each sect into different bodies, 
have been because of this feeling, and the attempt to bend the 
consciences of others to that which we have regarded as important 
for us, which we deem a truth, and which may be a truth for us ; 
but we have forgotten that the great Overruling Power, who 
knows the thoughts and intent of every heart, can better adapt 
His law to meet the conditions of others than we. If we simply 
recognize that each individual stands in the same relationship to 
the Divine in which we stand, that each has an equal access to 
Divine love and Divine presence, and is equally an object of the 
Divine regard and power, that that gospel which is the power of 
God unto salvation is preached to every rational creature, we can 
safely leave these things there in His holy hand. If we would dis- 
abuse ourselves of the feeling that we alone have the right, — 
that we alone, or those in harmony with us, are accepted by the 
Divine, — and could simply pursue our allotted path, do our 
allotted duty, and recognize the sincerity of those whose lives show 
that they are seeking to do the Master's will, we would find a 
stronger bond of unity, uniting and cementing us than we have 
ever known before. 

That which has hindered, from the standpoint which I have 
mentioned, the progress of the Christian church, that which has so 
divided and subdivided us, has been the work of man, not under 
the influence of the Divine control, but in desiring to have his 
own way, or to build up perhaps his own idea for some selfish 



494 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

purpose. But if all were brought to simply obey this teaching 
of the gospel which comes to each heart, if all were willing to 
give themselves up to its guidance, while it would not produce 
uniformity of action or of thought, it would produce a life that 
would be uniform in its loving character toward all mankind. 
We should be less strenuous in the advocacy of our peculiar ideas, 
and more earnest to live rightly before men ; we should be less 
strenuous in the desire that our teachings should be embraced, but 
more earnest that man should come to live in harmony with his 
brother man. 

I would then beseech you that you think these things carefully 
over for yourselves, and see whether you are living up to your 
highest ideal of the preaching of the gospel ; whether we, in our 
lives, in our mode of thought, in our religious ideas, in our feel- 
ings towards our brother man, are living up to our ideal, — that 
high ideal which we place before the world as that which should 
be exhibited in the lives of those who believe in the immediate 
revelation of God to the souls of men, as being capable of directing 
them in all that is needful for them to know to produce happiness 
for them in this life. 

We find many disturbing elements in our moments of quiet, — ■ 
at least I do, and I do not think I am very different from others. 
When I take a retrospective glance over my past life, and over 
the thoughts I have allowed to find a resting-place in regard to 
my fellow-men, I not infrequently find that which ought not to 
have been there, and that it very largely came from some one of 
the natural dispositions God has given me, over which I have not 
yet obtained the entire and full control. I recognize the need 
there is all through life of watching over these things, in order 
that we may reach the high position to which we claim this preach- 
ing of the gospel will bring us. We do not reach it in a moment. 
We may be convinced that we ought to live a different life ; we 
may do our best in the Divine service ; but look at it as we will, 
we will find each day that there is something for us to learn, some- 



Essays and Sermons 495 

thing' for us to conquer, some appetite to control, some line of 
thought that needs to be improved, something within ourselves 
that disturbs the quiet and tells us that we are not what we see 
we ought to be, and this will continue on from youth to old age. 
We need not expect to get into a position where we shall be en- 
tirely free from the temptations that surround us in our lives ; but 
they need to be controlled, and that is our life work. 

Now, here is the very reason why the preaching of this gospel 
comes to each ; why it is necessary that it should be preached with- 
in us ; — to enable us to continue this control ; to save us from 
being brought under the control of our passions, that we may not 
lose the happiness we have attained. The preaching of this gos- 
pel is necessary for us every moment that we live ; for while we 
may to-day have attained to that condition where we feel very 
happy in the Lord, — that we have given all our hearts, as we say, 
to serve Him, — and we may have continued through many years 
seeking to serve Him, yet to-morrow some temptation may come. 
I am standing before you to-day, bearing the message of the Lord 
for the people ; and yet to-morrow there may come some form of 
temptation, which may, unless watched, have power to wipe away 
everything that has been done in my life that was good, and place 
me in a position where, instead of being an object of love to you 
because of my faithfulness, I would become a burden of sorrow 
among you by my failure to resist the temptation. So there is need 
then of the preaching of this gospel every day for our preservation. 

The means by which that gospel is preached to us we call the 
revelation of God to the soul ; we call it Christ ; we call it the 
power and wisdom of God ; we call it the law : but whatever name 
we give it, it simply means that the Holy Spirit and Comforter 
is the medium which God has appointed to reveal the law to His 
creature man, and that God Himself speaks to us, and preaches 
that gospel within us, and as we are obedient to what it unfolds 
to us, as we follow its directions and dictates, He becomes our 
preserver. We recognize that this which we call the Christ, the 



496 Autobiography of John J. Cornell 

Spirit of the Lord that preaches this law, becomes our Savior; 
because it not only unfolds the law, but gives us the power and 
strength to obey it ; and hence we recognize it to be our Savior. 
We do not look back nineteen hundred years for our Savior ; we 
have Him with us. We do not look back to the appearance of 
Jesus among men as our Savior: we do not place our faith in 
that, simply because His manifestation of power showed that this 
Divine Spirit appeared in His body in the fulness to save Him 
from the commission of sin ; but we feel that we have a Savior 
within us, with power to preserve and save; and that this same 
Power will preserve and save us now as it did then, for it is 
through that Power that this gospel is preached to every one of 
us to-day, just as it was preached then. It was preached then 
just as it is preached to us, through that Spirit controlling the 
natural powers of humanity. So we recognize that it is by our 
obedience and our listening to it that it becomes to each individual 
one of us a Savior. We know what it means then ; it is not 
some speculative idea or some speculative doctrine that we have 
heard some one speak of, but it becomes a practical experience to 
us. 

Now you know this as well as I do, when you come to turn 
your thoughts within you. Suppose something occurs to-day 
which rouses your natural passions of anger ; someone has spoken 
unkindly of you, someone has misrepresented you, or someone has 
slighted you. How quickly this brings into action the passion 
that we call anger. If we, the moment it is roused, control it, 
check it, keep everything out of the heart but love, we are the 
happier for it. But suppose we do not; suppose we allow the 
unkind word to escape our lips, and speak harshly and indignantly 
though we may have, we think, just provocation, the moment 
the word passes the lips or the thought finds expression in angry 
words, we are made unhappy ; and when the passion passes away 
and we become cool, we think what we have done, and we would 
give anything in our power to take back the unkind word. We 



Essays and Sermons 497 

know it brings distress, we know it brings sorrow ; we would not 
have said it in the calmer moment, however great the provocation ; 
but if in that moment we had been accustomed to listening to 
the preaching of this gospel within us it would have saved us 
from this feeling of remorse, this feeling of sorrow, this un- 
happiness. In carrying this out in all the actions of life, this 
gospel was intended to bring salvation to us ; and in this way to 
preserve us from doing the things which destroy our peace and 
leave us unhappy. But if we hear the gospel that is preached 
within us and listen to it, so that our peace is not destroyed, we are 
in a position to be more useful, to do more good to our fellow 
man. So this same power comes to those who are not faithful 
and obedient to it, who have been careless of its teaching, who 
have gone counter to its requirements ; but it still comes preach- 
ing, teaching the denial of all ungodliness and the world's lusts, 
as a means of restoration ; for if we are living in alienation from 
the Divine harmony, there can be no restoration until we do away 
with that which has produced this condition. 

In the instances I have been presenting to you, if we are in- 
dulging our passion in the way of anger, if it comes up every day 
and we speak unkindly and harshly those things which we know 
disturb others, and rouse in them the same passions, we know that 
it brings to us unhappiness every day we live ; for we are living 
a life of alienation from that which is right. No man can indulge 
this passion, no man can let this continue, and be truly happy. 

Now, what restores us from this? Why, only the control of 
this passion. The same gospel, preached by the same Christ, by 
the same Spirit of God, which is the power of God unto salvation, 
is preached to those who are in alienation from him ; the same 
Christ appears to those who are living in a state of disharmony, 
and if they listen to that preaching, it leads them to the forsaking 
of that ungodly life, and to the giving themselves to a life spiritual, 
righteous and godly. It means a restoration ; and when we leave 
off the doing of that thing which is wrong in the sight of God, 



498 Autobiography of John J. Cornell - 

and come, under the direction of the preaching of this gospel, to 
that which is right, then it becomes a redeemer and restorer. 
And the same Spirit or Christ is operating in different ways ; first 
for man's salvation, it would come to him as in the beginning to 
give him light, to direct his life, to preserve him ; but when 
through disobedience to it, he is cast out from that condition of 
innocence, as our first parents were by their transgressions, to 
bring him back into that state where he would be able to enjoy 
a true communion with the Almighty. It showed" Adam where he 
was, and the means by which he might return, and in this is pre- 
sented another form of the preaching of the same gospel, which 
is the power of God unto salvation. 

O beloved hearts, let each of us then in the future give more 
attention to this preaching ! This does not require that we shall 
place our attention upon it in the outward, upon that which may 
fall from the minister's lips when we are gathered together as we 
are gathered this morning: but if we are to know the practical 
working of that Power which would produce happiness in us, it 
must be by the attention which we pay to the preaching of this 
gospel within us, this power of God unto salvation. 



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